Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats took home a big district victory on Thursday, as they took down Stone Memorial 3-0 in Crossville.
The first set featured plenty of back-and-forth action, as LA opened up a 6-1 lead early. Stone quickly responded and took control, as the Lady Panthers held a 22-18 lead late in the frame. Livingston didn’t roll over however, as they battled back to win the opening set 26-24.
This momentum carried into the second set, as Livingston once against jumped out to a lead. Stone wouldn’t go away quietly and made the Lady Wildcats earn the set, but it was the visitors who took a 2-0 lead after winning the second frame 25-21.
The third set looked eerily similar to the first one, though it was Stone who fell behind 18-11 with a sweep staring them in the face. The Lady Panthers rallied to take a 22-21 lead, but it was the last point they scored, as Livingston Academy earned a 3-0 sweep with a 25-22 win in the final set.
These same two teams met two weeks ago in Sparta for a tournament, a match that went the Lady Panthers’ way. LA head coach Christie Jenkins remembers that match, and is pleased with the progress she’s seen from her team since then.
“They beat us, and we were very frustrated,” Jenkins said. “I feel like my girls played hard and didn’t give up tonight. There’s still plenty for us to clean up throughout the remainder of the season, but what I like to see the most from my team is that they still had fight in them.”
The energy from start-to-finish was clearly on the side of the Lady Wildcats, as Jenkins says she thinks that’s part of what fueled her team to the win.
“They want to win their district,” Jenkins said. “We knew tonight that we were going to have to play hard…(Stone head coach Tori Permenter) has great blockers and they blocked (Aleah Melton) really well, so everyone else had to come in and help on the front-line.”
Jenkins does think there’s plenty of positives to take away from a performance like this, but as she mentioned earlier, there’s plenty for her team to improve heading into tournament time in her opinion.
“Communication for sure,” Jenkins said. “We’ve got to get our serves in, and we’re not always hitting the high sets. I want them to learn how to run short sets. I really want them to get confident in that, because it messes the defense up. Those are things we can still work on before tournament time.”
LA will take on Smith County in Carthage on Monday, while Stone Memorial will take part in a tournament on Friday.
