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ALTAIR — The Rice Lady Raiders volleyball team lost two district games last week to Yoakum and Tidehaven to give them a 1-4 record in district play this season. The loss knocked the Lady Raiders down from 5th to 7th place in the standings, but they have not lost sight of their goal this season of improving from last season. With nine games left on their schedule, the Lady Raiders will continue to work every day towards their goal of improvement.
@ Yoakum, L, 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-10)
The Lady Raiders started their week off traveling to play the Yoakum Bulldogs on Tuesday, Sept. 19, where they were swept for their third district loss of the season. The Lady Raiders’ offense struggled to get going early in the match as the Bulldog’s defense shut down the net to keep any offensive attack at bay. The Bulldogs’ offense would feed off of their defensive performance and jump out to an early lead that they would not give up.
The second set saw the young Lady Raiders squad give some push back to the buzzing Bulldog offense as this was the closest set of the match. The Lady Raiders’ offense was able to score 14 points against a tough Bulldog’s defense putting some pressure on their opponent during a district game but ultimately would fall in the set before having a repeat of the first set in the third set to end the match.
The Lady Raiders ultimate demise in this match was errors. With a total of 42-21 errors the Lady Raiders had double the errors of their opposition but as they look for continued improvement, they expect that number to decrease as the season moves along.
Vs. Tidehaven, L, 3-0 (25 17, 25-15, 25-17)
Coming off a tough loss in Tuesday’s game against Yoakum, the Lady Raiders were ready to respond but unfortunately this young squad would experience more growing pains as they were swept again on Friday, Sept. 22, by the Tidehaven Tigers.
The match would start with a great surge by the Lady Raiders as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. The Tigers would start their comeback by holding the Lady Raiders six points on the scoreboard while rattling off seven points to bring the score to 9-6 for the Tigers, and they held onto the lead for the rest of the set. The Lady Raiders were not ready to back down just yet though.
The young group showed their resiliency in their match against the Tigers, always staying within striking distance of the lead and making the Tigers earn their victory. The Lady Raiders would not capture a strong enough lead for the rest of the match but showed that they are always up to the challenge in district play.
The back-to-back losses sting but with a young group showing that they are not going to back down, the Lady Raiders will continue to improve and learn before their season ends as they continue to work towards their team goal.
