Barbe used a strong start and a big third-set comeback to defeat the Saints 25-11, 22-25, 26-24 and 25-22 in a tightly contested season opener Tuesday night at St. Louis Catholic High.
After dominating the first set, the Bucs (1-0) squandered a big lead in the second set before erasing a late 11-point deficit to steal the third and closing the match out in the fourth set, despite the best efforts of a pesky Saints (0-1) squad.
“St. Louis fought and they went after everything,” said Barbe head coach Katie Franks. “They had heart and they had hustle. They weren’t giving up at all. That’s exactly what they have to do and that’s what we need to do. We need to learn from that as well.”
Barbe cruised to an early first-set victory, tallying 11 of the last 14 points of the set and taking it 25-11.
It seemed the Bucs had the match well in hand as they carried the momentum into the second set to take 10-2 lead.
But the Saints battled back, tying the set at 15 apiece before taking the set 25-22 and the momentum.
“That was the epitome of the drills we’ve been running,” said St. Louis head coach Elizabeth Thompson. “It made me feel good as a coach that we’ve been working on that, and they could come out here accomplish that.”
St. Louis seemed well on its way to a 2-1 advantage as it rattled off nine consecutive points to take a 21-10 lead in the third set.
Barbe mounted a comeback, however, and went on 16-3 run to steal the set 26-24 and regain control of the match.
“We showed a lot of heart, especially in that third set when we fought back,” Franks said. “I just kept telling them to play one point at a time. No matter how far you’re down, you just have to play one point at a time and keep playing.”
Bucs senior middle blocker Koko Daniels tallied five kills in seven points at one point during the rally.
“Koko was definitely a big factor,” Franks said. “She’s our best hitter right now. We just have to get everybody on the same page being more consistent with everything.”
The fourth set came down to the wire. With the set tied at 22-all, Barbe scored the last three points to take set 25-22 and the season-opening victory.
The Bucs won’t have much time to celebrate, however, as they return to the court today to host four-time defending Division II state champion St. Thomas More.
“It’s a big game,” Franks said. “We have to be more aggressive and we have to play defense and control the ball. If we keep rallies going, they’re going to get tired, and we just have to keep playing. It is a big game, but we’re going treat them just like any other team.”
Follow Tyler Nunez on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TylerAmPress
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