Republic volleyball showed it’s ready to play with the elite teams of southwest Missouri – but like last year’s district tournament, the Lady Tigers couldn’t quite seal the deal. Republic won the first set against Kickapoo 25-23, but lost the next three in a four-set loss, 25-23 23-25 17-25 24-26.
“I had talked about how we were mentally tough in earlier games this week, and this just shows we still have a little bit of work to do in that area,” said coach Allison Davis. Though the Lady Tigers overcame deficits to give themselves a chance to win the second and fourth sets, Kickapoo won points at key moments to overcome Republic’s challenge.
“We came back, it’s just finishing the games. That’s what we really struggled with tonight. We worked hard to come out of those holes, and we got to that point, and we just couldn’t finish,” Davis said.
In the second set, Kickapoo grabbed a 6-1 lead, Republic fought back to tie the score at 17, but then saw Kickapoo five of the next eight points to even the score a one set apiece.
After a relatively lopsided third set put Kickapoo ahead 2-1, the fourth set was even most of the way. With the score tied at 14, Kickapoo won four of five points to take an 18-14 lead. But Republic won six of eight points a few minutes later, reaching set point with a 24-22 lead. Kickapoo won the next four points, though, to close out the match.
“I’m still proud of these kids. We still kept a positive attitude, and they were still loving on each other, so I couldn’t ask for a better team,” Davis said. “I just reminded them we’re no longer the old Republic volleyball team. We are going to be a different team this year, and they want that.
“Tonight’s hard, and they’re taking it hard, but these are the type of kids that want to get back in the gym and fight extra hard to come back and be ready for them in districts.”
Republic drops to 8-1 this season. When they won their first set Thursday, it marked the 17th consecutive set won by the Lady Tigers to start the season.
Republic is home next against Glendale on September 6.
