After four straight region runner-up finishes, the No. 5-ranked Lady Indians finally got over the hump Saturday at home in a 3-0 win over No. 7 Prince Avenue Christian. The win secured the regular season region champions the outright region title for the first time. The thrilling straight-set win also was the 30th on the season for TFS, one shy of a school record and only the second 30-win team in school history.
The Lady Indians shrugged off a slow start, and rallied for an intense 29-27 opening set win. After getting into an early 0-3 hole, a pair of Sarah Jennings kills reeled the set back in. Still, TFS trailed as much as 5-11 early on. Addy McCoy came up with a big kill later in the set, and Ashlyn Yaskiewicz recorded an ace to pull within 7-11 as part of a 4-1 run. Tallulah Falls slowly pulled back into it until closing within 16-20, sparking a PAC timeout. The Lady Indians closed to 20-22, and tied the set at 24 and 26, and three times faced set point. Yaskiewicz came up clutch at serve, leading TFS to the 29-27 win for the early advantage. Jennings and McCoy had five kills each in the set, and Elsa Sanchez had three. McCoy, Yaskiewicz, and Julianne Shirley all had an ace apiece.
The second set saw TFS jump ahead early with a 5-1 lead. Prince Avenue Christian rallied back a few times, getting within a point, though TFS wouldn’t give up the lead. Back-to-back aces by Yaskiewicz helped Tallulah Falls get up 11-6. Highlights in the set included a huge Sanchez spike for the 14-10 lead, a Yaskiewicz kill to get the lead to 16-13, and her ace for the 20-15 advantage that again caused a timeout. McCoy had the kill and ace to seal the set, and an unforced error officially ended it with a 25-18 score. Jennings and Sofia Rueda had two kills each, and Yaskiewicz and McCoy had three and two aces, respectively in the set.
Up 2-0, the Lady Indians put the match away with a 25-23 third set in which Prince Ave wouldn’t go quietly. Both teams traded blows early on to a 5-5 tie. Rueda’s kill and following ace made it 7-5 in favor of TFS, and McCoy had a spike to go up 10-7 while Jennings provided some insurance with a kill to make it 15-11 later in the set. The visitors got to within a single point at 17-16, and McCoy had a pair of monster blocks to stretch the lead back to 22-17. Still, Prince Avenue Christian rallied to within 24-23 before a ball into the net ended the drama and clinched the title for Tallulah Falls. McCoy had five kills, Jennings three, and Rueda two, while McCoy had two aces and Rueda one in the clinching set.
Throughout the match, McCoy had 11 kills and Jennings had 10. McCoy added five aces and Yaskiewicz had four.
The Lady Indians (30-11) hosted a first-round state tournament game after press time Tuesday. Should they win the opening round match, they’ll be guaranteed home court through the first two rounds. The second round is set for Saturday afternoon.
– Brian Carter