Just like last season, the Republic Lady Tigers jumped all over Glendale Tuesday night at Republic, winning the first game handily. But just like last season, Glendale rebounded to hand Republic its first loss of the year. Glendale escaped with a narrow victory, 16-25 28-26 26-24.
The Lady Tigers looked unstoppable early, behind the powerful hitting of Lexi Birlew. Birlew had 15 kills to lead the Lady Tigers. Sarah Kreul contributed 38 assists.
But unforced errors down the stretch cost Republic the match. Late in the third game, the Lady Tigers served into the net twice in a row. They also lost two points when they pushed the ball too long out of bounds.
“Second and third game, we just gave too many points away,” says head coach Piper Wright. “Missed some crucial serves, and when the points were really tight, we just didn’t come through to make the play.”
Defensively, Brandy Glessner and Maddy Sherman led the team with seven digs apiece.
Kreul, Sherman and Alex Botkin had three service aces each.
“I’m glad it’s early in the season that we’re getting this loss. Glendale was our first loss last year, too, and we ended up turning it around and had a great season,” says Wright. “Nobody likes to lose, and hopefully it puts a little fire under us to get the next one.
Next up for the Lady Tigers, they’ll travel to Mountain Grove Thursday.
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The JV team beat Glendale 25-15 25-14. The freshman Lady Tigers also won, 25-18 25-10.