By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Lady Rebel Sam Hopper slaps a kill over the Millington defense during last week’s game in the William Osteen Gymnasium.
On paper the Flag City Showdown between the Tipton-Rosemark Academy Lady Rebels and Millington Lady Trojans was supposed to be a competitive match. But right before the Sept. 12 match in the William Osteen Gymnasium, the Lady Trojans had some lineup changes having to move players around and mix in new girls into the rotation. Meanwhile Wendy Porter’s Lady Rebels stayed focused and played with a purpose winning 25-8, 25-14 and 25-14. “We did pretty good,” Porter said. “We just came out of a tournament where we played really, really well. For the most part, I think we were running faster plays. We were fast to the ball as oppose to what we were earlier in the season. We’re making progress.” In the opening set, the new-look Lady Trojans were just trying to adjust to the last-minute changes. TRA took advantage of the confused Millington squad attacking the net with players like Haley Ramsey, Maggie Stephens, Kallie Alexander and Sam Hopper. The Lady Rebels jumped out 6-0 and the lead eventually grew to 23-8 when Abby West scored on a spike. Alexander and Ramsey closed out the first set with points to help TRA prevail 25-8. The second set started off more competitive with Millington’s Addison Coulter tying the game at 6-6 with a kill. TRA responded with a 6-0 run to seize control of the set. When Stephens and Ramsey slammed down spikes the score was 12-6. The Lady Rebels’ advantage grew to 10 points when Emily West served up an ace to make the score 23-13. Moments later Ramsey ended the set at 25-14 with a spike. In the third set Lady Rebel Rachel Woelm got her team off to a hot start with 7 serves. TRA added 14 more points to obtain a 21-11 lead. Coulter tried to rally Millington with her serves scoring on three aces. But it was Woelm that had the last word behind the service line. Her ace closed out the game giving TRA the 25-14 victory.
“We’re getting ready for a big game on Wednesday,” Porter concluded. “So our focus was fast pace offense. We didn’t do it always tonight but we’re getting there.”
