The Lady Highlanders volleyball team lost 3-1 against the Murphy Lady Bulldogs at their home game on Monday evening, Aug. 19.
It came after a 3-0 loss against the Rosman Lady Tigers on Thursday, Aug. 15 and a 3-1 win over the Andrews Lady Wildcats on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
The game started off evenly, though the Lady Bulldogs were able to pull ahead about halfway through the first set, winning 25-15.
The Lady Highlanders got ahead in the second set, though, and the gymnasium filled with loud cheers from the home crowd as the team scored their first three points in rapid succession in the first few minutes.
The Lady Highlanders were able to keep a lead for most of the set, though the Lady Bulldogs looked to be catching up in the end of the match, even tying at one point. Some urgent scoring by the Lady Highlanders was able to pull the home team to a win, 25-22.
The next two sets didn’t go as well, though, and the Lady Highlanders lost 25-18 in the third set and then 25-12 in the fourth and final one.
Coach Kaitlyn Bishop said the team was mostly just focused on moving ahead for upcoming games.
“We’ve got to be more consistent servers,” she said. “We struggled the last couple games. If we dig ourselves a hole early, we get down and have to claw up for the rest of the set. If we get up early, like in the second set, we had a lead the rest of the game.”
Bishop said the team was still “kind of a work in progress.”
“We’ve still got some critiquing to do,” she said. “It’s a lot of little things. We second guess ourselves a lot… somebody’s got to step up and take the lead.”
The Lady Highlanders played an away game against the Robbinsville Black Knights on Tuesday, Aug. 20 after press time. Their next game is scheduled for tonight, Aug. 22, a home game against the Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets.