The Ava Lady Bears returned to tournament action this past weekend when they took to the road and played in the annual Licking tournament.
The Lady Bears ended up with a record of 2-2 in the tournament with wins over Licking and Salem while falling to Winona and Liberty.
Ava took on Licking in the first round of pool play and came out with a win of 25-22 and 25-18.
“We didn’t have a very strong serving game for our first game but we were able to pull off the victory with great teamwork and hustle,” said Coach Sarah Lemons.
Jorie Garrett led the team in kills with 8, Samantha Martin and Emily Sterling each added five, and Emily Petty had four. Petty also led the team with 11 assists.
Next, the Lady Bears took on a tough Winona team where they lost 22-25 and 16-25. Serving improved in this game with the whole team only missing two.
Garrett led the team in kills with 8, Martin added 3 and Petty contributed 2.
The Lady Bears would take on Liberty next and lost to them as well by scores of 23-25 and 16-25.
Abby Dean led the team in aces with 3 and was also 7-for-8 in serving. Garret led the team in kills with 6, Martin had 4, Sterling and Bethany Horn added 2 and Dean and Petty had 1 each.
The Lady Bears took on Salem in the last round of pool play and came out on top 25-22 and 25-21.
“The girls played an overall great game with a lot of hustle and awesome defense,” said Coach Lemons.
Martin led the team in serves with 11-for-11 and had one ace. Garret led the team in kills with 12 and also added an ace. Sterling was perfect for serving with two aces of her own. Dean was perfect for digging with 10-for-10. Petty led the team in assists with 15. Lindsey Armour was almost perfect for serve receive passing and digging with a total of 17-for-20.
Tuesday night the Lady Bears traveled to Willow Springs for more conference action. The Lady Bears won the match 25-21 and 25-9 improving their SCA record to 2-3.
“Willow played a tough first set and then we were able to really serve tough at them and hit the ball at them when we had the opportunity,” said Coach Lemons.
Garret led the team in kills with 11 and also in aces with three. Emily Sterling added three kills of her own. Abby Dean was perfect for serving with 3-for-3.
Kristen Hastings jumped in and served 9-for-9 with two aces. Martin was second in kills with seven and was also perfect for serving with 10-for-10.
Petty led the team in assists with 41-for-41 and 18 coming through for kills. Armour had a good defensive and serve receive game being 24-of-29. Horn added three kills and was also perfect for serving with 4-for-4.
Erica Croney was able to jump in the game and pull off a kill as well.
The Lady Bears travel to Thayer Thursday night for more conference action.
