Nocona
Nocona hosted a dual with Gunter and Ponder on Tuesday night, playing back-to-back in closely contested matches that saw the Lady Indians come out triumphant after four hours of volleyball.
Nocona had to work to beat the Lady Tigers 3-1 and the Lady Lions in a five set thriller 3-2.
The Lady Indians found out right away Gunter was not here to mess around. The Lady Tigers won the first set 25-21 to take an early lead.
Nocona settled down and won the next two sets 25-14 and 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set. Gunter needed to win to force a fifth set, but did not have enough gas as the Lady Indians won the set 25-22 to win the match.
Nocona did not have much time to relish its win as Ponder was up next after a short break. The fresher Lady Lions were able to pull out the win in set one 25-22. Again, the Lady Indians were able to come back from losing the firs set, winning sets two and three by the barest margins possible 25-23 and 27-25.
Ponder would not go away though. The fourth set was just as much of a battle as the whole match had been. Again the set went into extra points like in the third set, but it was the Lady Lions who came out on top 27-25 to force a fifth and final set.
The fifth set lived up to the rest of the match as neither team could gain or keep much of a lead that was safe. It went down to the wire and thankfully it was Nocona who came out on top, winning 16-14 to win the match.
The Lady Indians host Bridgeport at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 20.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears traveled to Graford on Tuesday and pulled out a come from behind win in tough conditions.
The gym’s air conditioning was not working and temperatures got up to the high 80s, made worse by the fact the match went to five sets. Fortunately, the Lady Bears came out on top.
Things were not going Gold-Burg’s way the first two sets. The heat was affecting the Lady Bears setting and the young team was having some consistency issues as the Lady Rabbits won 25-22 and 25-21.
Gold-Burg was not giving up. The Lady Bears focused up and were able to win sets three and four with scores of 25-21 and 25-19.
With all of the momentum, Gold-Burg carried that into the fifth set and won comfortably 15-8 to end the literal heat marathon.
The Lady Bears travel to Saint Jo to play at 5 p.m. on Aug. 20.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers hosted Gainesville on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers won easily in straight sets against the Lady Leopards. Only the first set was any type of competitive as Saint Jo won 25-17, 25-9 and 25-12.
Coach Charlie Hamilton knew heading into the match her team had the better ability, but warned them of not letting Gainesville’s play affect how they play.
Hamilton is still trying to round out her final varsity roster at this point as she has shuffled around the lineup.
Saint Jo hosts Gold-Burg at 5 p.m. on Aug. 20.

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