The Lady Tigers fell to Rogers 25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 19-25 finishing a disappointing fifth place in District 19-3A with a 7-8 record.
“I’m disappointed,” said Jennifer Keen, Rockdale High School head volleyball coach. “We were excited coming into the game, but I think that we reverted back to what we were doing in the middle of the season.
“Lack of confidence and lack of fight and want for the win, and that got us,” she said. “You can’t do that in this district. You have to play every single point. You can’t assume you’re going to win.”
Rogers, who placed fourth in the standings with a 6-6 record, played Teague in bi-district after the Reporter went to press. Little River-Academy won first, 11-3 and Lexington finished second, 10-4. They played their bi-district matches after the Reporter went to press.
The Lady Tigers took the first set against Lady Eagles in a tiebreaker, but never got over the hump to win any of the next three sets. The Lady Tigers were led by Kaylee Criswell at the net with 14 kills, and the duo of Lyndsey Kolar and Andrea Salazar were also a strong force at the net with nine apiece.
Payton Miller was Rock-dale’s dominant defender with 13 kills. Reese Weise led the blue and gold in assists with 37. This was Weise’s final volleyball game as a Lady Tiger, along with Gonzalez, Eubanks, Kolar, Criswell and Ryanne Young.
“I feel like our season should’ve been different,” Keen said. “In my opinion, we shouldn’t have been in this position.
“I think we’re better, and we’re also better than some of the teams that are going to the playoffs in this district,” she said. “As a team, we let ourselves down.”
Earlier in the week, the Lady Tigers defeated Rogers in the match that led to Friday’s game in Milano 25-16, 25-16, 26-24.
Rockdale was led by Kolar and Criswell at the net with 15 and 14 kills. The Lady Tigers made a strong defensive effort in the match 13 digs from Miller Weise. Eubanks had 10 digs, and Depine and Gonzales both had 8. Leading the club in passing was Weise with 29 assists.
Rogers 3, Lady Tigers 1
25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 19-25
Kills: Criswell 14, Kolar 9, Salazar 9, Eubanks 5, Young 5, Weise 3, Miller 2, Gonzalez 1, Haven Jimenez 1, Depine 1.
Aces: Depine 3, Kolar 2, Eubanks 1, Gonzalez 1.
Digs: Miller 13, Weise 8, Eubanks er 2, Gonzalez 1, Haven Jimenez 1, Depine 1. Aces: Depine 3, Kolar 2, Eubanks 1, Gonzalez 1. Digs: Miller 13, Weise 8, Eubanks 8, Gonzalez 7, Young 2, Criswell 1, Jimenez 1, Kolar 1, Anna Harmon 1. Blocks: Criswell 3, Kolar 1, Salazar 1.
Lady Tigers 3, Rogers 0
25-16, 25-16, 26-24 Kills: Kolar 15, Criswell 14, Ryanne Young 5, Eubanks 2, Miller 1, Salazar 1, Weise 1. Aces: Depine 1, Gonzalez 1, Kolar 1, Young 1. Digs: Miller 13, Weise 13, Eubanks 10, Depine 8, Gonzalez 8, Young 6, Kolar 4, Salazar 1. Blocks: Criswell 8, Kolar 5, Salazar 4
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