Lady Raiders split games against Louise, Shiner

The Rice Lady Raiders played twice this past week splitting those games with one win and loss.

They took on Louise on Tuesday, Sept. 3, before taking on Shiner on Friday, Sept. 6, to conclude their athletic participation for the week.

Vs. Louise, W, (23-25, 25 11, 25-21, 25-22) To start this game the Lady Raiders dropped the first set 25-23 but they did not dwell on it too long. They were in the mix to win the first set but just caught a couple of bad bounces, they came into the second set with a little bit more fire to get the job done.

In the second set the Lady Raiders offense took off and completely dominated. Abigail Hoelscher and Alejandra Palacios were prominently featured in the Lady Raiders offense.

After losing the first set, they helped stabilize the Lady Raiders in the second set and ran away with the score. After winning the second set 25-11 the Lady Raiders and Louise came into the third set with a chip on their shoulder.

Both teams knew how pivotal the third set can be in close games like this. The third set was extremely competitive and the Lady Raiders defense was challenged by Louise.

Hoelscher and Palacios along with Breelyn Freeman, Klair Hailey, Avery Brown and Raelee Nelson all chipped in for the defensive effort for the Lady Raiders. They did just enough and held Louise to only 21 points while the Lady Raiders closed out the set.

The fourth set was just as competitive, but the Lady Raiders stayed on course and held onto the momentum to win the fourth set and the match with a 25-22 win.

Vs. Shiner, L (25-18, 25 22, 25-8) In the match against Shiner the Lady Raiders ran into some struggles both on offense and defense.

Defensively, the Lady Raiders could not find a way to stop Shiner’s offense. They did enough to keep them in the game, but the offense was having trouble breaking through.

The first two sets saw the Lady Raiders keep up with Shiner keeping things close but just weren’t able to get over the hump. The offense played well in the first two sets but in the third set the wheels fell off.

The Lady Raiders scored only eight points in the final set while Shiner ran away with the score. Knowing the Lady Raiders and the players they have on the roster this loss is very uncharacteristic, and it frustrated them, and they will use this game as motivation to get better.

The Lady Raiders will be working diligently in practice to erase this loss and get their win back when they take on Terry on Tuesday, Sept. 10, on the road.