Bearcat volleyball got off to a disappointing start Monday night with a 3-1 loss to visiting Mena.
Down a set the Bearcats used a 9-1 run to take control of the second set the hung on for a 25-19 win to even the match.
With Cameron Parish serving the Bearcats turned a 9-8 deficit into a 13-8 lead and with Anna Ferguson replacing her after a service break the lead was 15-9 when Mena took a time out.
Still the Bearcats won the next three points with Ferguson providing two on aces to make it 18-9 but Mena began to chip away.
The lead was down to four when Emma Fox (shown) got a block, and at three when Presley Walker went for a kill and Mena was in the net.
It was 22-19 until a Parish kill and a couple of Mena errors closed the set.
The Bearcats looked poised to take the match over in the third set. Vanessa O’Neal had an ace to make it 2-0, it was 8-4 when Mena couldn’t make a return, and 10-7 when Walker threw one into a vacant part of the court.
It would be 11-7 on a long Mena return but then disaster struck. Despite coach Bailey Stringer using both of her time outs the Bearcats could not get a service break for 15 straight points and Mena led 22-11.
The Bearcats scored the next three points, the later on a kill by Fox but Mean answered with three of their own to win 25-14.
There was another extended Mena run in the final set that saw a 5-3 Bearcat deficit grow to one of 12-3.
The Bearcats would later rally to get within 17-15 on an ace by Kaylee Ray, 18-16 on a kill by Parish, and 19-17 on a kill by Walker, but Mena ran off five more in a row and would close the match with a 25-18 win.
After breaking away from an 8-8 tie Mena had won the opening set 25-17.
Other Matches
Mena won the Junior High A match 25-14, 25-14, the Junior High B game 22-25, 25-12, 16-14 and the teams split to seventh grade sets with the Bearcats winning the first 25-14 and falling 25-7.
THIRD SET DRY SPELL COSTS BEARCATS AGAINST MENA
