BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School got off to a good start, winning the first set against District 6-Rural opponent Lafayette, but the visiting Hornets then won three straight to hand the Tigers a 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 25-10) loss to open volleyball’s regular season.
The Tigers were coming off a 2-0 (25-22, 25-22) loss to Lafayette in one of the division championship matches at the second annual Crafty Gemini Preseason Showcase on Aug. 14 in Alachua. The regular-season opener proved to be another battle against a Lafayette team that was ranked as high as second in the state last season.
Union led 4-2 in the first set before scoring three points with Jailyn Simmons serving. One of the points came off a service ace, while another was scored off a Mallory Waugh kill.
Two kills by Waugh helped the Tigers stay in front until she held serve with a 12-10 lead. Union scored three points, with one coming off a Simmons block, to go up 15-10.
Simmons had two kills off Waugh assists late in the set to help the Tigers take a 24-23 lead. It was tied at 24-24 with Lafayette serving when a Simmons kill off an Abby Williams assist forced side-out.
With Simmons serving, the Hornets committed a passing error to give Union the 26-24 win.
Neither team led by more than two points in the second set until Lafayette scored three points with Havyn Richardson serving to go up 22-19. A kill by the Tigers’ Indi Knox forced side-out, but Union couldn’t take advantage of the serve.
Union got one more chance to serve, trailing 24-21. An error gave the Hornets the winning point.
The Tigers trailed 5-3 in the third set before scoring five straight points with Simmons serving. Simmons recorded an ace during the span, while Waugh had two kills.
Lafayette went on a 4-0 run to go up 13-9 and held the lead for most of the remainder of the set.
Three kills by Simmons and two by Morgan Smith helped Union stay close before the Hornets ended the set with a kill.
Union got aces from Knox and Simmons and a kill from Smith to keep it close early in the fourth set, but Lafayette began to pull away. The Hornets built a 19-9 lead before scoring four straight points to make it a 23-9 game. Kills on consecutive plays ended the match in Lafayette’s favor.
The Tigers host Bradford on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m., following a junior varsity match at 6 p.m. Union travels to play Suwannee on Thursday, Aug. 21, with the JV teams playing at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity teams playing at 6:30 p.m., and then returns home to play Williston on Monday, Aug. 25, with matches also starting at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, the Tigers travel to play Baker County at 6:30 p.m., following a JV match at 5:30 p.m.
