By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Munford’s Ally Browning (No. 15) tries to block the ball against a Hardin County hitter during last week’s contest in Munford.
The annual doubleheader between the Hardin County Lady Tigers and Munford Lady Cougars took place last week. This year the two games were played Sept. 15 in the Munford Gymnasium. The first game went the way of the Lady Cougars in five sets 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 14-25 and 15-9. The marathon match was the Lady Cougars’ first District 13-3A win of the season. A few minutes later both teams hit the court again for round two. It appeared the second game would go five sets as well with Hardin County pulling out a 25-23 win in the first set. But the Lady Tigers ran away with the next two sets 25-13 and 25-17 to earn the overall victory. “I think we ran out of gas there,” Munford Head Coach Angie Gover said. “We seemed to let them have it.” The second game defeat dropped Munford to 1-3 in league play. Gover pinpointed one aspect to her team’s slow start in district. “I hope to see them play as a team,” she said. “That’s what we’re lacking. There’s too much individual playing and not team playing. When they learn how to play as team, I think we can start winning a lot more ball games.” Munford had moments playing as a team with Sara Shepard, Bailee Webb, MaKayla Pugh, Ally Browning, Kelsey Frizzell and De’Asha Banks. The Lady Cougars fell behind 24-16 in the first set of the second game. Frizzell took control of the serve and helped her team rally to make the score 24-23. In that 7-0 run, Munford had points from Banks and Pugh set by Browning. But the set would end on an error giving the Lady Tigers the victory. Despite a few moments of standout play for the Lady Cougars, the next two sets were controlled by the Lady Tigers. Gover said it is frustrating to see her team struggle because it had the ability to win those sets and eventually matches.
“The talent is out there,” she said. “I think we can do very well if it all comes together. My hitters can hit the ball when they’re very aggressive like when they are in practice. But when it comes to games, they play it safe instead of playing aggressively. That’s what we have to start doing.”
