Tigerettes swept by Lady Blues

In its final pre-district tuneup, the Tigerettes took on a tough Class 4A foe in the Graham Lady Blues and suffered a 12-25, 15-25, 19-25 setback at home.

The Tigerettes showed hustle and determination at times, but a solid Lady Blues’ front court would prove to be too much for Jacksboro. The hostesses led for the first and only time as Lily Perez rolled off three points, including an ace for a 3-0 lead.

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Graham broke serve and Tatum Western rolled off seven straight tallies, including two aces to force a Tigerette timeout. A kill by senior Ashlyn Nunley broke serve, but Jacksboro could get nothing going offensively.

Fortunately, Graham was halted offensively as well as kills by Erin Jonas and Rachael Chalmers snuffed out any long scoring threats. The Lady Blues rolled off three in a row, aided by a kill and a block from junior Olga Morales, to go up 12-4.

Jacksboro would get strings going offensively the rest of game one, sans for single points from Chloe Hart and Perez. Abby Osborn would finish the job for the visitors laying down the final four points.

Graham staked itself out to a 3-0 lead in set two. The Tigerettes, as they would the rest of the match, held their own, with singles from Perez and Avery Bennett helping to knot the game at four.

Graham would go up 9-6, only to have a Charli Haak block and a Chalmers kill get the Tigerettes within two at 9-11. Westerman’s four-point string put the Lady Blues up 15-9, aided by a Morales kill and forcing a Tigerette timeout.

Kills by Chalmers and Nunley kept Jacksboro close. Brailyn Tullous received some front court help from Haak and Jonas in a three-point run to get within 14-17.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as Lady Blues’ Camden Thorne rolled off five straight points to extend the lead to 23-14. Morales finished off game two with an ace.

The squads traded hideouts to open the final set, until Miya Cantwell served up two points after a service break for a 7-4 lead. She later added five straight to take a 14-7 advantage. Graham extended its lead to 19-9 until Jacksboro came through with three service points from Kylie Tullous, with some front court help by Haak to get within 13-19.

Hart then served up another deuce, including an ace, to bring the Tigerettes within 17-21. The squads then traded hideouts to end the match.