Lady Cougars Beat MSA Mustangs in Playoffs

In the AAC playoffs, TCS (#2 seed) and MSA (#3 seed) met up for their third time this season. The Lady Cougars were ready and took the court excited and ready to go. Alyssa Brigss started the team off with a strong serve followed by a great play on the net by Celeste Jeoffroy. Bella Aparicio was next to serve, she placed tough serve deep into the Mustang court. MSA struggled to return her serves, allowing her to serve 11 in a row, with 8 aces. Cougars lead 13-2. MSA managed to get the serve back but they served it out. Celeste is next to serve, and she picked up where Bella left off. She too placed smart and tough serves that the Mustangs could not return, a total of 11 serves with 4 aces. Cougars won this one, 25-3.

Set two began with the Cougars in serve receive. Mustangs scored first and jumped into the lead 3-1 when Bella goes to the service line. She caught the Cougars up with 3 serves, now it is 4-4. Mustang #13 served a couple shots that challenged the Cougars. They adjusted and got a good pass, as well as get the serve back. Celeste is back to serve. She again placed some serving gems that again challenged the Mustangs, taking the Cougars back in the lead 10 -8. The Cougars made smart passing choices on the court, earning back the serve. Adair Garrett to serve and she too put up some tough serves to the right spot to help keep the Cougar momentum. Loss of service, score is now 14-9. Pass to Anna Morris who tried to set up Alyssa, but the hit goes long. Cougars are having trouble winning the volley. Morris again set up Alyssa who hits it in, Cougars win the point as Mustangs were in the net. Anna Scalf to serve. Alyssa makes a great save to keep the serve. Couple of good volleys but Cougars lose the play, 17-13. Lack of communication hurt the Cougars. Mustangs miss their serve, back to Anna Morris with the serve, pass by Scalf to Celeste who sets up Alysaa to hit on the right side. Mustangs pass into the net, Cougar point. Missed serve by both Cougars and Mustangs. 20-17, Cougars need the serve back. A couple of Cougar errors but they finally get the serve back at 21-18 but serve it into the net. Mustangs makes the next two serves before Cougars get the ball back, 22-20. Celeste to serve. She again puts them in just the right place, Mustangs can’t return them. TCS wins, 25-20.

The third set began with Mustangs getting on the board first. Serves placed in the right spot on the Cougar court have the Lady Cougars scrambling to get the ball back. Celeste has some great coverage on the net while they are working hard to try to get the serve back, down 1-5. Cougars are slow on the court and lose the play. Celeste returns to serve at 3-6 and she gets things moving again with her skilled serve that challenged the Mustangs. She serves four, tying up the score at 7-7. The crowd has gotten loud and is cheering the Lady Cougars on. The team moves to cover the court well and earns back the serve. Serving errors trouble both teams as it goes back and forth. Cougars are down 9-12 when their court hustle gets them back in control. Anna Scalf to serve. Alyssa makes a great save to keep the serve. Mustangs are having trouble getting it back over the net. Anna Scalf made 5 serves with an ace. Cougars cover their court well, placing their shots deep at the Mustangs. MSA wins the volley at 15-13. It again goes back and forth. Celeste sets up Alyssa once more, she places a tough pass with some spin to the deep Mustang court, Cougars to serve. Another serving error strikes the Cougars, so they have to receive and try to get it back. Mustang service error, Celeste to serve, 19-18. She gets 3 serves with an ace, 22-19 as now the Cougars receive. This next volley was the play of the game. The entire team touches the ball as it went back and forth with smart passing by the whole team. Alyssa grabs a short ball that goes into the net, dug out by Morris and passed over by Scalf for the point! The crowd is on their feet! 23-19. Olivia serves and the team covers the play, 24-19. Great attempt at a final spike by Alyssa that is long. Mustangs to serve. 24-20. Celeste makes a pass deep into MSA court and they can’t return it, Lady Cougars win 25-20.

The Lady Cougars travel to Howard School for the championship match today at 4pm. Let’s go Lady Cougars!