Livingston dropped their first District 19-4A match Tuesday in Lion Gym, as the Huffman Hargrave Lady Falcons took sole possession of first place with scores of 25-18, 16-25, 25-19, 19-25, and 15-11.
The match for the district’s top spot started with a tie score at 4-4 in the opener, until Hargrave scored five of the next six points to establish a lead that they would not surrender. Livingston closed the gap to within three on a few different occasions.
Beginning the second set with a five-point lead at 8-3, the Lady Lions extended it to 16-6 with help from Taylor Wright serving. A nine-point win evened the match at one apiece.
Livingston pulled to within one on three different occasions in the third set, but could not overcome the Hargrave lead. Blocking at the net was outstanding for the road team, and Livingston had difficulties keeping the ball inbounds. The Lady Falcons scored six of the final seven points to move ahead one.
Holding a lead throughout most of the fourth, the Lady Lions went up by 10 at a few different points, and forced a final set.
Tied at nine, the school from Huffman had one more run in the final to win by four.
Livingston coach Alyssa Fielder feels her team lost an opportunity to take the district lead Tuesday.
“I told them that we need all of our hitters. I feel like all of our hitters were not present,” the coach said. “If we get to that point, we are very pin (outside hitter) heavy, to where our pins get very tired. Just like any pin, if you are hitting the ball over and over again, you are going to get tired, to where we need to spread the ball around and we did not have that presence today. I am not the coach to lose, I hate losing, and there are no more Ls. We need to rise to the occasion.”
The team has improved greatly from a home-opening loss to Woodville. Fielder said she believed that type of growth was possible.
“I was upset after that (Woodville) game, but that was really at the beginning of our season, and they look like a totally different team. Our hitting is so much better than in the beginning. I tell the girls all the time that hitting is going to come. We are going to get all of the uglies out and get those Ls out at the beginning and then we start grooving. The speed of the game, I did not think it was going to be this fast now, but they are now starting to pick it up.”
The team has not only overcome some big losses to last year’s playoff squad and injuries early in the season, they have adjusted to a new system after playing together for just two months. They were four points away from maintaining an undefeated mark through one round of district play.
“I think my team takes it very hard, just like I do. They don't feel (how close they were) tonight, but they will feel it tomorrow when they watch film and we see what we messed up on. At the end of the day, we have to move on. We just have to get to a place to where we can finish.
“I am not used to losing. But, they have come in and had a new coach and they've learned a new system of volleyball, so there is always room to grow. I think this is just the beginning for them. For the younger girls, I have a lot of sophomores, and they are going to have to step up. If they don't play, then seeing how it is and how they should be on the court, our program will be pretty set next year.”
