The Lady Tigers definitely possess the skills of winners, but that wasn’t enough to take them out of the  losers’ bracket in a game against Pleasant Grove’s Lady Hawks Aug. 20 in Tiger Gym with a 3-1 score.

In the first match, PG pulled ahead early with a score of 3-10 before the first time out.

The Lady Hawks kept up the momentum because of the lack of defense and teamwork on the Tiger’s behalf.

“We need to improve a lot,” senior K’Tianna Davis said, “mostly blocking.”

The Lady Hawks put the match away with a final score of 16-25.

Going into the second match, the Tigers showed more effort, starting to hustle and get more digs. The Tigers got a slight lead at 8-5 but couldn’t keep it.

“We communicated a little but we weren’t doing it enough,” sophomore Kristin McDuffie said. “We were just talking.”

The Lady Hawks closed the gap and tied it up at 16-16. Without much opposition, the Hawks went on to take the win at 20-25.

At the start of the third match the Tigers came back in a blazing fury. The girls took an early lead and kept widening it. The girls blocked, dug, passed, spiked and communicated much better.

“I think our passing was great,” Davis said. “We really started to get into the game when we realised we were losing.”

The Tigers ended the match with a score of 25-16.

During the fourth match, both teams had their game plans down. From the start it was neck and neck, with both teams coming up with big points. This trend remained the same all the way to the end with the score tied up 24-24. Despite their best efforts, the Tigers couldn’t find the strength needed to stop the Lady Hawks. PG scored twice, ending the match and game with a final score of 24-26.

After the game, the Tigers looked back at their mistakes.

“I should improve on communicating with my teammates,” junior Jalissa Trotter said. “I also need to work on hustling, setting and keeping the team in high spirits.”

The Lady Tigers will face Longview Tuesday at Longview High School.

“We got a lot of practicing to do,” Davis said. “We’ve got a lot to overcome.”

This game may have been a wake-up call, showing them what to work on.

“We’ve got to be mentally strong,” Trotter said. “We’ve just got to be mentally strong.”