While readers may initially wonder about the Tigers falling to a smaller school, it’s important to note that Bushland Volleyball is a four-time State Champion, five-time State Finalist, and eight-time State Semi-Finalist since 2006-2007.
Frenship went on the road Friday, September 18, for their second dual of the season as they faced the Bushland Lady Falcons and the Monterey Lady Plainsmen at Monterey High School. The Tigers fell to Bushland 18-25, 25-14, 19-25, 19-25. While readers may initially wonder about the Tigers falling to a smaller school, it’s important to note that Bushland Volleyball is a four-time State Champion, five-time State Finalist, and eight-time State Semi-Finalist since 2006-2007.
The Tigers went on that evening to defeat the Monterey Lady Plainsmen 25-12, 25-11, 26-24 to improve to 3-1 on the season. In that match, it was truly a team effort offensively as no Tigers notched double-digit kills, spreading the workload around the floor.
Frenship returned to action in the Tiger Pit on Tuesday, September 22, in their first match aired live on Frenship.TV. Ticket sales for the match against the Lubbock-Cooper Lady Pirates were strong and the Tigers enjoyed a boisterous home crowd in a playoff atmosphere. Lubbock-Cooper had been tested in their young season as well with wins over Amarillo High, Abilene High, and Wichita Falls Rider. The Lady Pirates’ lone loss also came at the hands of the Bushland Lady Falcons.
The Tigers came out of the gate struggling to find momentum and lost the first set 18-25. But the crowd would not be denied a Frenship victory and amidst fan-led cheers, chants, and the wave, Frenship battled back from a seven-point deficit in the second set to take the lead and hold on to win 25-17. In the third set, the crowd once again rattled the rafters spurred on by back-to-back aces by Gracie Harrison, who finished with 4 on the night. The hard-hitting senior was impressive notching a team-high 13 kills, 19 digs, and 2 blocks.
The Tigers rode the momentum to a 25-20 win in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The set score belies the back-and-forth nature of the contest with multiple lead changes between the Tigers and Lady Pirates. Frenship went into the fourth set brimming with confidence and the Lady Pirates began to struggle in the raucous atmosphere, ultimately committing 45 errors to Frenship’s 12. The Tigers ran away with the final set 25-12 and took the match 3-1.
Defensively, Kendall Mahaney led the way with 23 digs and Taylor Boyd notched 4 blocks with Madison Ramsey handling 3 more. Kayton Genenbacher added 22 assists and defensive specialist Madison Brouilette added two more aces on the evening as the Tigers improved to 4-1 overall.
Frenship will face one more non-district opponent in former district rival Amarillo Tascosa. The Rebels will face off with the Tigers in the Tiger Pit at 5:00pm today, Friday, September 25. Fans planning to attend any volleyball game will need to purchase tickets here: https://www.frenship.net/apps/pages/athletictickets.
Online ticket sales will end at 12:00 pm on game day, but limited tickets may be available at the gate based on available space.