SLIDELL — Pine’s Lady Raiders played close bookend games against Salmen, but struggled in the second contest in a 25-23, 25-14, 25-19 loss to the Lady Spartans in Monday’s volleyball action.
Pine played well at times and struggled at others throughout the match.
“That’s the whole thing. I’ve told you in years past, we need consistency. When we get to where we consistently play at the level that we can, we’re going to win games,” Pine coach Tammy Voth said.
Pine’s Cassidy Ashe was injured in the first game, but did return. Voth said the injury did take a small toll on the team.
“We don’t have any subs. We have six varsity players and six JV (junior varsity) players, so when we had to sub in that first set, it kind of shook them up and it took them a little while to get back in rhythm and then it just seemed like we never regained our composure,” she said.
Voth said the team plays well and she’s proud of the team because they work hard.
“It just seems like when we make a mistake, instead of just being able to let it go, we kind of drown in it and they don’t play through it and that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to learn how to play through our mistakes, shake them off, comeback and play ball,” Voth said.
The opener was close throughout. Pine led 2-0, but Salmen caught the Lady Raiders and tied it at 3-3 in the first of three four ties. The biggest lead by either team was six and that was Salmen at 21-15, but Pine went on a 5-1 run and pulled to within one at 22-21.
Salmen took a 24-22 lead. Pine was able to avoid game point the first time, but not the second in the 25-23 loss.
The Lady Raiders came out strong in the second game and scored the opening three points. Salmen responded in a big way by going on a 9-0 run to go up, 9-3.
The teams split the next four points. Pine then scored two in a row, cutting the deficit to 11-6. The Lady Spartans then put up four straight to take a 15-6 advantage.
Pine hung tough down the stretch and was outscored just 10-8, as Salmen won the contest, 25-14.
The Lady Raiders’ close play in the second game carried over to the third game. The teams were tied six times.
The Lady Spartans scored the contest’s first two points, but Pine had a solid response, scoring five in a row to go ahead, 5-2. Salmen then scored four of five and tied the game at 6-6.
Kelli Adams gave Pine the lead the 7-6. The Lady Raiders added another before Salmen trimmed it to 8-7 on a point by Jealinn San Nicolas.
Pine took a 9-7 lead, but Salmen tied it at 9-9. The game was also even at 10-10, 14-14, 15-15 and 18-18.
Pine struggled toward the end. Salmen took a 19-18 lead that started a 5-0 run to go up 23-18 before winning 25-19.
Pine rebounded from Monday’s loss with a 25-18, 25-12, 25-18 win over Bogalusa the following day on the road.