Lady Raiders beat Rangers in five sets

The Rice Lady Raiders great start to the season continued this past week after picking up a win over the Terry Rangers on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

There was plenty of excitement as the scrappy Lady Raiders lost the first set only to come roaring back and win the match.

The match started out a little rough for the Lady Raiders, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They could only muster up 10 points while the Rangers ran away with the score.

After falling in the first set 25-10 Lady Raiders head coach David Leist gave a very passionate speech on the sideline. He preached to his team that they needed to believe in themselves and play with confidence.

A message that did not fall on deaf ears. The Lady Raiders came into the second set taking their coaches advice to heart and took the game right to the Rangers.

With no wasted movements and an early lead in their hands the Lady Raiders found their swagger. Abigail Hoelscher, Alejandra Palacios and Raelee Nelson were major pieces to their offense in the second set.

The Lady Raiders ended the set quickly with a score of 25-14 which brought the match to the very pivotal third set. In close games like this the winner of the third set has a higher percentage of winning the match.

In the third set, the Lady Raiders offense continued to execute at a high level, but the Rangers were not going down without a fight. They stayed within striking distance to take the lead from the Lady Raiders but defensively the Lady Raiders stood tall and won the set 25-19.

Being up two sets to one the Lady Raiders could taste victory but needed one more set win to claim the victory. The fourth set was just as competitive as the third but the Lady Raiders offense and defense fell out of sync.

Their foot slipped off the gas and the Rangers were able to even things up with a 25-15 win in set four. In the fifth and final set only 15 points separated these two teams from victory, and it made for a dramatic finish to the game.

The Lady Raiders defense needed to be big in the final set and they accomplished just that by holding the Rangers to only 10 points. Offensively the Lady Raiders were able to find their rhythm again and end the set with a score of 15-10.

With a win in their pocket, the Lady Raiders week was just starting because they still had a matchup against a cross-county rival on Friday night in Columbus.