Rusk eliminates Lady Riders from playoff chase
block a kill attempt by a Rusk player Friday night in Eagle Coliseum.
Rusk eliminated the Lady Riders from playoff contention, 3-2.
(Photo by John Krueger)
RUSK -- With their hopes of a Class 3A playoff spot 'hanging by a thread,' the Center Lady Riders were officially eliminated from any postseason hopes when they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Rusk Lady Eagles here at Eagle Coliseum Friday night. Rusk won the match by scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25 and 15-6.
The match, which went back and forth all night long, dropped Center back to 9-7 on the year, but 4-5 against District 18-3A competition. Rusk improved to 14-19, 3-6 in league play. Center trails Carthage, Huntington and Diboll in the district chase. CHS will now close out the season Tuesday at home against first-place Carthage. The freshmen match will start at 5 p.m., followed by the JV and varsity.
Center's match with Rusk was evenly matched. The widest margin of victory was in the fifth game. Game 1 looked as if the Lady Riders weren't going to get their offense going as the Lady Eagles captured a 25-19 win.
But Center began to come alive in Game 2. A three-point run, with two points served by Ashley Schulz, gave the Lady Riders a 6-4 lead. Later in the game, Suzanne Peace served three straight points as Center moved out to a 16-11 advantage.
But the Lady Eagles battled back with runs of 9-1 to move out in front 20-17, and it appeared that Center might be going home early. Then a kill by Kaley Nichols, then a pair of points served by Peace and an ace by Macie Bush gave the Lady Riders a 23-21 lead. Omattie Swindle then recorded a kill and that led to a 25-22 victory.
With the match tied at 1-1, Rusk came out strong in Game 3, as the Lady Eagles went on a 9-2 run early to take a 10-4 lead. But Center fought back. Schulz served seven straight points - including three aces - and suddenly CHS was back in front, 11-10.
From that point, the game began to seesaw as the Lady Eagles first took a lead and then Center would battle back. But the Lady Riders couldn't get 'over the hill' in this one, falling 20-25, to face a must-win situation in Game 4.
A pair of kills early, one by Schulz and another by Omattie Swindle, gave Center an early 4-3 lead. But Rusk forged ahead 9-5, before Bush served a pair of points - including an ace - to keep the Lady Riders within striking distance.
The Lady Eagles took a 15-11 lead, but Center kept chipping away at the advantage, finally tying the match at 18-18. An ace by Bush gave Center a 20-19 advantage, and kills down the stretch by Simone Swindle and Schulz were enough to take a 25-22 win to force Game 5.
But the Lady Eagles quickly took control of the final game. After Center led 3-2 on kills by Simone Swindle, Schulz and an ace by Nichols, the Lady Eagles went on a 7-0 run and then scored six of the last seven points to take the victory.