Tift volleyball rebounds with pair of home wins

Published 11:00 pm Thursday, August 25, 2022

TIFTON – After feeling the sting of third set blues lately, Tift County head volleyball coach Caleb Dawson found a way to avoid them Thursday – not playing them at all.

Tift’s Lady Devils defeated Ware County and Thomasville in tri-team date, sweeping each in two sets. In between, Thomasville defeated Ware, 25-8, 25-17.

Dawson rattled off recent losses to Lowndes and ACE Charter which saw those teams erase big third set deficits to win.

“It was great,” said Dawson of Thursday’s much easier matches. “It was a big night.”

Thomasville’s Lady Bulldogs were game early in each canto against Tift, but faded as they continued. Meanwhile, the Lady Devils remained a cohesive unit.

In the first set, Thomasville had a lead as late as 10-8, but a misfired on a rally and point by Alexis Lane tied the score. From there, the locals began pulling ahead.

Three straight points went their way, including back-to-back aces by Abbie Lott. Soon, Kylei Cutts, Raegin Walker and Jalaya Miller all had returns that Thomasville could not handle and Tift was up 16-11.

There was brief nervousness when the Lady Bulldogs closed to 20-18, but that was as close as it got. Tift took over serving again. Thomasville could not counter a Lott return. On Lott’s last serve, Miller jumped for a block, but the ball did not quite reach her, fluttering short on Thomasville’s side of the net.

TIFT 25-10

Thomasville had the opening serve, but by the time they took over control again, they trailed 4-1. In that span, Walker dealt a pair of aces and Lane provided a spike.

The possession was short for the visitors, ending immediately with a serve that did not clear the net. Cutts and Lane scored as the margin increased to 7-1.

Thomasville scored the next three points, but began to fizzle, especially after Lane ended a long rally with a perfectly placed return barely inside the back right boundary line.

Ava Thompson blocked a Thomasville effort at the net during the middle stretch of the second set. Walker served one more ace, then Thomasville found it difficult to get their returns in bounds.

When Elli Warren had a soft tap at the net into an area Thomasville did not have covered, the Lady Devils could feel it. The score was 23-9 and though they had to wait on one last opposing point, they got the ball back on a short serve and Lott finished them off appropriately with an ace.

Tift’s next match will be Aug. 30 at home against Colquitt County.