The Houston High School volleyball team twice faced early deficits against West Plains. And both times the Lady Tigers impressively rallied.
HHS wiped away 5-0 deficits in both sets and rallied for a 25-17, 25-16 victory Tuesday night against the Lady Zizzers inside Hiett Gymnasium.
Lady Tigers coach Skye Carrasquillo said she was impressed she didn’t need to use a timeout either set to get the team turned around.
“That’s a huge step forward for us,” Carrasquillo said. “I told the girls I was proud of them for pushing through it.”
Sophomore Kylee Elmore led the Lady Tigers (11-14) with seven kills. Sarah Garrett added five.
Alexa Ichord handed out 11 assists and Amber Sillyman had nine. Sydney Cremer had three of the team’s six aces.
After rallying in the opening set, Houston again faced a deficit in the second. The Lady Tigers trailed 5-0 and 8-3 before scoring 13 of the next 14 points to put the match away.
Elmore’s kill pulled the Lady Tigers even at 8-all, and Cremer followed with an ace to give HHS a lead it never relinquished. Elmore had a crosscourt kill and Cremer followed with her third ace as Houston went ahead 16-9.
The Lady Tigers also beat West Plains in the Rolla Tournament. That match went three sets.
“The girls knew they would be in a battle tonight,” Carrasquillo said. “They pushed forward and fought for every point.”
On Thursday, Ichord and Cremer had seven kills apiece in a 25-19, 13-25, 25-20 home loss to Mountain Grove.
Freshman Megan Silveus had seven blocks for Houston, which fell to 3-1 in South Central Association play.
“We’ve talked about not plateauing, and we haven’t,” Carrasquillo said. “We haven’t reached our potential yet.”
JUNIOR VARSITY: Hayley Walker had three kills and Camryn Scheets added four assists in the JV Lady Tigers’ 25-22, 25-20 loss Tuesday to West Plains.
On Thursday, Walker had six aces and six kills in Houston’s 25-5, 17-25, 25-17 win against Mountain Grove.