The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team dropped their season-opener on Monday night at home to Talkington, 1-3.
With the loss, the Lady Cats fall to 0-1 on the season.
The Lady Cats dropped their first two sets to the Lady Warriors on Monday evening, but were able to keep the match alive with a victory in set three, 27-25.
In set four, a kill attempt by Julie Bownds landed out of bounds to begin the set, but Littlefield picked up a point on the next play, as the serve from Tatum Hutchison landed out of bounds, making the score, 1-1. Bownds’ serve was hit into the net by Yasmine Moussa and the next serve from Bownds was hit out of bounds by the Lady Warriors, pushing the Littlefield lead to two points. The rally would come to an end, as Bownds sent a serve into the net to make the score, 3-2.
Moussa served up an ace off of Emily Champion to tie the set, 3-3, but Littlefield regained the lead on the next play, as a set by Erin Duggan landed out of bounds, making the score, 4-3. A stop by Kennadi Hanlin landed too close to the net for Madison McNeese to play, tying the set, 4-4, and back-to-back kill tries by McNeese and Champion landed out of bounds for Littlefield, making the score, 4-6.
Mae Alice was blocked at the net by McNeese and Kyndal Edgemon for a kill, but Danielle Zapata’s serve on the next play fell short of the net, giving the Lady Warriors a two-point lead, 5-7. Talkington gave the serve right back to Littlefield on the next play, as Emily Keister’s serve sailed out of bounds, trimming the lead to, 6- 7.
Talkington would rally for three more points before Head Coach Claire Head called a time out to talk things over with her team, trailing, 6-10. Out of the break, a missplay by Talkington sent the serve back over to Littlefield with the score cut to, 7-10. Bownds tipped a ball over for a kill at the net, but Talkington answered, as Bownds was blocked by Alice for a kill, making the score, 8-11.
Moussa dropped in a kill for Talkington, but Bownds responded with a kill past Alice, making the score, 9-12. Duggan dropped in a tip over the block attempt from Bownds and Zapata for a kill and a bad hit on the next play by Champion fell short of the net, extending the lead to, 9-14.
Hutchison served up an ace, as Littlefield called for a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Keister tipped the net with a hit and the ball was hit out of bounds by Ashtyn Parker, making the score, 9-16. The rally would come to an end for Talkington, as Keister sent a hit over the back line out of bounds to make the score, 10-16, as the serve returned to Littlefield.
Bownds’ serve went unreturned by Talkington and on the next play, Edgemon delivered a kill in front of Hutchison to cut the lead to, 16-12. Bownds’ next serve sailed into the net and on the following play, Zapata was called for a double hit trying to make a save on the net, stretching the lead to, 12-18.
Christa Cortez sent a hit over the back line for Talkington and McNeese followed it up with a kill off of Hutchison to cut the lead to, 14-18. A kill by Cortez was hit out of bounds by Littlefield, but McNeese responded with a kill to make the score, 15-19. Keister sent a hit outside of the foul pole for a Littlefield point and on the following play, Alice sent a kill over the back line out of bounds, slicing the lead to, 17-19.
McNeese kept the rally going for Littlefield with a kill off of Isabelle Garcia, as Talkington took a time out with their lead dwindled to just one point, 18-19. Out of the break, Littlefield was able to tie the set, 19-19, as Alice was blocked by Edgemon on the initial hit and a hit by McNeese was hit out of bounds by Alice.
Littlefield continued to surge, as McNeese dropped in a tip off of a block attempt by Alice, giving Littlefield their second lead of the set, 20-19. Edgemon dropped in a tip off of the set up from Champion, as it fell in over the block attempt by Cortez for a kill, making the score, 21-19.
The rally came to an end, as McNeese sent a hit into the net to make the score, 21-20. Talkington could not capitalize, though, as Keister sent the next serve into the net, making the score, 22-20. Talkington took a time out, and out of the break, Champion’s serve landed out of bounds, making it a one-point set, 22-21.
The Lady Warriors scored back-to-back kills to regain the lead, 22-23, but a tip out of bounds by Alice had the set tied once more, 23-23. McNeese sent a serve short of the net, but on the next play, Bownds won a battle at the net for a Littlefield point to make the score, 24-24.
However, Parker sent a hit into the net and Bownds followed it up with a hit out of bounds, as the Lady Warriors took the set, 24-26, and the match, 3-1.
The Lady Cats will return to action on Monday when they host the Idalou Lady Cats.
The first set is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.