Pine used late runs at the end of the first and third games and toward the end of the second contest in a 25-15, 25-15, 25-14 win at Franklinton on Tuesday evening.
The Lady Raiders ended the first game by scoring the final 12 points and they broke open a 17-14 contest in the second game with six in a row.
Franklinton led 15-13 early in the first game.
The Lady Raiders broke the serve on Reese Polk’s kill. Kaitlyn Cochran stepped up to the service line and got to serve through the end of the game, as Polk’s kill began a 12-0 run that ended the game.
Cochran began the march to 25 with a pair of aces. Kills by Kiyasha Clark made it 18-15. After another point for a 19-15 lead, Cochran posted an ace and then Makia Clark tallied a kill for a 21-15 lead.
Following two more points by the Lady Raiders, Cochran served an ace, putting Pine at game point, which the Lady Raiders got shortly thereafter.
“Our serving has gotten a lot better over the years,” Pine coach Tammy Voth said. “We struggled with that for a while, but we’re doing a much better job at it now.”
The second game was similar, as this time, Pine ran off nine of 10 points, including six in a row, putting the Lady Raiders extremely close to a two-game lead in the best of five.
Like the first contest, the second game was close at the midway point.
Early on, Pine had a 10-4 lead, but Franklinton made a comeback.
After trimming the lead to 12-7, Kailey Cosse tallied a kill to begin a 4-1 run. Cosse also had an ace later on that made it 13-10. The Lady Demons made it a two-point game with the next point and the Lady Demons later cut it down to 14-13.
That was when Pine went on the 9-1 run.
Pine posted three points in a row, with one of them coming on an ace by Leah Ladner. Franklinton broke the serve, trimming the margin to 17-14.
Pine then scored six in a row to go up 23-14.
Kalli Tullier recorded two aces during the run.
Franklinton tallied to make it 23-15, but the Lady Raiders posted two in a row for the 25-15 win.
The third game was close early on.
Pine led 9-8 and the teams exchanged points on kills by Pine’s Ladner and Franklinton’s Cosse to make it a 10-9 game.
Pine then ran off five points in a row for a 15-9 lead.
Franklinton tallied four of the next five points.
With a 16-13 lead, Pine capped off the game with a 9-1 run for the 25-14 win, as Makia Clark and Kiyasha Clark ended the game with a kill each, respectively, on the final two points.
On Monday, Pine defeated First Baptist Christian School, 25-11, 25-18, 22-25, 25-17 on the road.
Makia Clark downed 10 kills and served two aces.
Polk downed eight kills; Ladner recorded three aces and three kills; Cochran had four aces; and Tullier posted five kills.
On Thursday, Franklinton defeated Independence, 25-8, 25-7, 25-6 at home.
On Wednesday, Pine suffered a 25-20, 25-18, 25-12 loss to Covington on the road.
Last weekend, Pine went 1-3 in the Ponchatoula Tournament that took place Friday and Saturday.
Pine won the first best-of-three match over Loranger, 25-16, 29-27.
Friday’s second contest was a 25-11, 25-23 loss to Pearl River.
The Lady Raiders’ first match Saturday was a 25-21, 25-23 loss to 2018 Division III state semifinalist De La Salle.
Pine’s final game of the tournament was a 25-18, 12-25, 16-14 setback to East St. John.