Republic’s four volleyball seniors–Rachael Combs, Lexi Long, Hailey Noblitt, and Alli Wright
––have been through their share of rough times on the court. That makes their turnaround senior season even sweeter, and they added one more win to their regular-season total with a sweep of Buffalo on Senior Night Thursday.
Long played a big role in the victory on the seniors’ final match on their home floor. She had six kills to lead the team, and also had five service aces.
Lauren O’Hara had five kills for the Lady Tigers. Bella Drennan had 17 assists and Eryn Russell contributed 10 digs.
The Lady Tigers improve to 18-12-1 to finish out the regular season, after two seasons with losing records. Wright says the seniors’ attitude has played a big role in the turnaround.
“All four of those girls are very mentally tough,” coach Piper Wright says of her seniors. “They’ve stayed motivated this entire season, and we have a winning record because of that. I feel like we look pretty good going into districts.”
The Lady Tigers open district play against McDonald County next Monday in Webb City. The Lady Tigers are the #3 seed, and McDonald County is #6.
“We played Mac County once this season and beat them in two, but we’re always ready for anybody, and they’re a good team,” says Wright. “We’re excited. We got the three seed, but that’s what we were last year when we won. We feel motivated to keep that winning tradition alive.”
The Lady Tigers play their first-round game at 7 pm Monday.