Nocona
Wanting to face one last great test before district starts, the Nocona Lady Indians traveled to Melissa on Tuesday for one last final exam.
Facing a state ranked 4A team with some superior size at the net and dynamic outside hitters, the match was sure to test everything the Lady Indians had worked on and experienced throughout the first month and half of the season.
Nocona was able to win the first set in convincing fashion 25-18 as the Lady Indians showed no fear in being aggressive in their attack. The second set went awry from the beginning as Nocona struggled with their serve-receive and fell behind quickly. They were never able to get anything going as the Lady Cardinals won going away with it 25-12 to tie the match.
The third set was tight throughout and went down to the wire. The Lady Indians trailed 23-21 and it looked like Melissa might go up one set on them. Nocona stormed back and the set went to extra points, where they were able to pull off the 27-25 win to go up 2-1.
Trying to close out the Lady Cardinals, Nocona again struggled with their serve-receive and was unable to mount a consistent offensive attack to break Melissa’s serve. The Lady Indians lost 25-18 as it went to a fifth and final set. They were not able to turn around their fortunes as Nocona lost 15-9.
Averee Kleinhans led the team with 18 kills, Rachel Patrick led the team with 16 assists, Laramie Hayes led the team with 24 digs and Ella Nunneley had three aces.
Nocona opens district against City View at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.

Prairie Valley
It was another tough district match-up for the Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs as they hosted district power Archer City on Tuesday.
Right after playing the other big dog in the district Windthorst, Prairie Valley was hoping to compete better against a similar challenging opponent. While the second set proved to be a disaster, the Lady Bulldogs were able to compete well in the first in second set. Ultimately, they were not able to steal at set off the Lady Wildcats as they lost in straight sets 25-17, 25-6, 25-20.
Emily Carpenter led the team with seven kills, Sydni Mess had 10 assists, Shelby Roof had 13 digs and CeCe Mahin had one block.
Prairie Valley will be searching for their first district in as they play Electra at 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.

Forestburg
Things did not go well for the Forestburg Lady Horns on Tuesday as they hosted Valley View.
Not able to get much going, the Lady Horns lost in straight sets by the scores of 25-4, 25-8, 25-9. Lacy Huddleston led the team with three kills and Faith Moore led the team with four assists. Both had six digs each to lead the team while Kassidy Travis and Issabella Roller each had one ace each.
Forestburg next plays rival Saint Jo at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 at home.

Gold-Burg
A promising start made it seem like the Gold-Burg Lady Bears had a chance to get their first district win Tuesday night at home against Electra.
Unfortunately, a promising first set was stolen from them and Gold-Burg could never recover.
The Lady Bears jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set as the Lady Tigers were having trouble with their serve-receive as unforced errors led to a lot of free points. Electra did turn things around and tied the set up at 10-10. Gold-Burg was still serving well enough and was still able to make the Lady Tigers their own worst enemy’s, feasting on free points as they led 19-16.
Electra came back and had a slight 23-22 lead, but the set was still anyone’s for the taking. The Lady Bears could not get enough balls to bounce their way as the Lady Tigers won 25-23.
The second set started out as a disaster. Gold-Burg’s serve receive could not make consistent passes to mount an offense capable of breaking Electra’s serve. The early tactic some of Lady Bears had of just getting the ball over the net and hope the other team messes up, was not working. The Lady Tigers got much more sharp as the match went along. This led to more mistakes from Gold-Burg as their serving became inconsistent when they did have an opportunity.
The Lady Bears did make a valiant comeback after falling behind 16-4, losing only 25-16 and hoped that late set play would carry over into the third set. Unfortunately, it was a similar story in the third set, but there would be no comeback as Electra won 25-7.
Gold-Burg will be looking for their first district win as they play Harrold at 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.

Saint Jo
It was not a good game for the Saint Jo Lady Panthers as they lost at Alvord on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers had a chance to win in the first three sets, but could only pull out the win in the second as they lost in four sets.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to steal the first set out from underneath Saint Jo as they won 26-24. The second set was just as close, but the Lady Panthers were able to close things out as they won 25-22 to tie the match. Alvord was able to win the close third set 25-20 and won the fourth set running away with it 25-14 to win the match.
Bailey Melton and Maddie Ogden led the team with three kills each while Charity Brawner led the team with five assists.
Saint Jo next plays rival Forestburg at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 on the road.

To read all of the full stories, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.