Pleasant Grove handles Liberty-Eylau in three

Liberty-Eylau's Daycoria Meadows has a shot blocked by Pleasant Grove's Hallie Lipham and Rachael Leach during a volleyball match Tuesday at Hawk Gym.
Liberty-Eylau's Daycoria Meadows has a shot blocked by Pleasant Grove's Hallie Lipham and Rachael Leach during a volleyball match Tuesday at Hawk Gym.

TEXARKANA, Texas - Success is not final, and failure is not fatal.

Pleasant Grove swept cross-town rival Liberty-Eylau, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23, at Hawk Gym on Tuesday to close out the first half of District 15-4A play.

"We did a lot better with getting to the ball and blocking," Lady Hawk assistant coach Paige Grey said. "We also did a lot better moving on defense, front row and back row."

Pleasant Grove head coach Amy Collvins was present throughout the match but had to leave immediately following its completion.

"Our dynamic and chemistry has been a little off because of injuries," Lady Leopard head coach Lacey Middlebrooks said. "Over the last few days of practice we have been focusing on getting our groove back. We have been focusing on playing cohesive volleyball.

"We want to win no matter what, but mostly we want to compete. We competed and made good adjustments."

The first set featured seven ties at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7-all.

Georgia Cobb sent a kill down the left baseline to give the Hawks (18-17, 3-2) back the serve at 7-all. Pleasant Grove took a 10-7 lead after three consecutive Leopard hitting errors.

Liberty-Eylau (24-9, 1-4) rallied back to within a point, 14-13, after a kill by Tamara Norris.

But the Hawks built the biggest lead of the set at 21-16. Katie Ferguson put away the last point of the set with a kill that blazed down the right baseline.

Pleasant Grove built the largest lead of the second set at 21-13. The set was tied just two times at 1 and 5-all. The Hawks' Macy Young finessed a tip for a winner to close out the set.

The Leopards got out to a 2-0 lead after a pair of Hawk hitting errors.

Pleasant Grove worked its way back into the set after a Harleigh O'Neal tip went for a point and a Leopard hitting error. The Hawks held a 10-6 lead.

Norris took the service line for the Leopards with her team down, 10-7. L-E earned four consecutive points to take an 11-10 advantage.

The final set, which was the most competitive, featured 12 ties at 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21-all.

Alley Grace Harjo made a block for Pleasant Grove to give the Hawks a 22-21 lead. Moments later, Hallie Lipham sent a kill down the right side of the court to seal it for PG.

Ferguson finished with eight kills and 15 assists for the Hawks, Rachael Leach had nine service points to go with three blocks, and O'Neal had four blocks.

Adi Koller slapped in eight service points and made eight digs, and Ella Nichols had eight digs for Pleasant Grove.

Breanna Webster paced Liberty-Eylau with eight service points, and teammate Daycoria Meadows had nine kills.

MacKenzie Williams had 10 service points, and the Hawks won the junior varsity match, 25-9, 25-15.

Ann Elise Lindsay and Kaylee Tilbury each had seven service points for Pleasant Grove.

Upcoming Events