The Long County Lady Blue Tide volleyball team served up their first home game of the young 2024 season on Wednesday, August 21 when they hosted next county opponents Liberty County and Bradwell Institute. The Lady Tide split their home opener, sweeping the Panthers and falling to the Tigers.
In the first match, the Lady Tide took on Liberty County and opened up in a big way. On their first serve of the game, Trinity Mook notched an ace to give them a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Tide scored three more aces, two of them by senior Nevaeh Chapman and the other by libero Maliah Canete. Jocelyn Norman also had a nice stuff to give the Lady Tide a 17-10 lead.
They won the first game 25-13 to take a 1-0 lead. However, the second game of the match had a start that was not as smooth for the Lady Tide.
The Panthers went up 3-1 early in the game before the Lady Tide went on a 7-0 run to take an 8-3 lead before a timeout.
This run was just enough for the Lady Tide to move on to a 25-14 win. In the game, the Tide had five aces, with Janely Scott notching four of them.
With this game win, the Lady Tide won the match 2-0 to get their first win of the season and get to 1-4 on the year.
After Bradwell defeated Liberty County in the second match, the Lady Tide took to the court for their game against the Tigers.
Bradwell jumped on the Tide early in the first game, going on a 5-0 run after going down 2-0. The Lady Tide answered with a short run of their own, capped by a stuff from Chapman to tie the game.
The Tigers then turned it on, going on a 14-2 run to go up 19-7 and never looking back in the first game. They won the first game 25-9.
The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead in the second game before an ace from Makailah Johnson started a 4-0 run for the Lady Tide.
However, the Tigers answered the home team’s 4-0 run with one of their own as they took a 5-4 lead. That 4-0 run turned into a 6-0 run to put them up 8-4.
The Tigers kept things going as they eventually went up 17-10, giving them the momentum they needed to win the second game 25-16 and the match 2-0.