Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Upperman Lady Bees took a 2-0 lead over White County on Thursday, and held on for a 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 14-25, 22-25, 15-9) victory over the Warriorettes.
Lila Cade led the way for UHS with 19 kills, while Abigail Johnson returned to the court with four kills of her own.
For head coach Barbie Cook, she says she’s still looking for consistency from start to finish each match.
“It feels good, but we play at certain levels,” Cook said. “Like I’ve told them, yes we won, but we can’t go into districts like this. I’m proud of them and their hard work, because like I’ve said before, they are not the same team they were at the beginning of the season.”
For Cook, avoiding sets like that third set where they seemed to take their foot off the gas comes down to the energy they play with.
“It’s hit-or-miss with them,” Cook said. “I know my team. They can either come out and be excited, but the smallest thing can make it switch…it’s a mental team, and it’s hard to break that when they’ve already got that embedded within them.”
As far as what they did well, Cook says she liked the energy the team played with early to help build that 2-0 lead, but they could use a little more leadership.
“They even said it in the huddle. They felt like they had good vibes going,” Cook said. “We’ve got to work on leadership, and I think that’s our biggest thing. I told them, there’s got to be a leader on the floor and a leader on the bench to overcome all of that.”
