PN-G rallies from down two to beat LC-M, 3-2

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PN-G rallies from down two to beat LC-M, 3-2

Gabriel Pruett

The Orange Leader

LITTLE CYPRESS — History is a funny thing.

In the Bear Cave Tuesday, the Port Neches-Groves Rock-A-Noos were trying to repeat it and the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears were trying to shake it off.

After being up two games to none against LC-M, the Lady Bears let the Rock-A-Noos fight all the way back as PN-G escaped with a 3-2 win in the match.

PN-G won the match 22-25, 14-25, 25-19, 25-16 and 15-7.

PN-G (18-8, 9-0) got down 5-1 in the final game and then went on a 14-2 run to end the match and win the fifth game 15-7.

LC-M falls to 16-13 overall and 6-3 in the District 22-4A standings.

LC-M’s Morgan Blohm had 16 kills in the match while Jordyn Davis added seven.

PN-G’s Kayla Prasnicki had 11 kills while Paige Miller chimed in nine assists to lead her team in that category.

This was not the first time this scenario played out between this two 22-4A heavyweights.

In the first round of district LC-M led PN-G 2-0 at The Reservation before the Rock-A-Noos stormed back to win the match 3-2.

“We still feel good where we are at in district but they (Lady Bears) still should have won this match,†LC-M Coach Vicki Castino said.

After jumping out to the 2-0 lead, nothing could go right for the Lady Bears in the third and fourth games.

The Lady Bears had 11 errors in the third game. LC-M had 15 total errors between the first and second games combined.

PN-G’s Samantha Lunceford gained a little control for the Rock-A-Noos in the third when she came to serve with PN-G up 10-8.

Lunceford struck for four straight service points giving PN-G a 13-8 lead.

The two teams flip-flopped scoring except for once up the score was 19-15 when Lunceford came back up to serve.

Lunceford struck for three more service points, the last two coming as she set Sami Jo Williams two straight times for kills. PN-G took a 22-15 lead.

A final LC-M error gave PN-G the 25-19 win.

In the fourth game PN-G raced out to a 6-1 lead behind the serve of Mallory Livingston who notched five straight points.

LC-M did fight back behind the serve of Christine Sicktich, who had 16 kills, as the sophomore hit six straight points giving LC-M a 9-8 lead.

Sicktich finished with 12 assists.

The fourth game remained close until Livingston stepped back up to serve with a 16-14 lead and when she was done the Rock-A-Noos led 20-14.

PN-G’s Alexis Smith finished the game with an ace giving her team the 25-16 win to force the final game.

Williams changed the face of the final game as LC-M led 5-3 with two aces and four straight points to push PN-G into a 6-5 lead.

Smith would later put the game on ice with seven straight service points and the final points came when Miller set Chelsea Horn for a kill as PN-G won 15-7.

LC-M used the serve of Shayna Sheppard to battle back in Game 1 as the Lady Bears found themselves down 18-13.

Sheppard hit seven straight points, including three aces, as LC-M took a 19-18.

Blohm would later do the rest as she hit three straight points to end the game and the Lady Bears won 25-22.

LC-M looked like a team on a mission in Game 2 as Blohm struck for seven kills in the game.

LC-M’s Carly Gauthier took serve with the Lady Bears up 10-9 and left with LC-M up 14-10.

Brittany Wiegand later struck for four straight points to push LC-M up 23-13.

After Sicktich set Blohm up for a kill, a final PN-G error gave LC-M a 25-14 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

“We just had too many mental breakdowns,†Castino said. “The third game killed us. It seemed we would get some momentum and then something bad would happen.â€

LC-M returns to action Friday with a road trip to Beaumont Ozen, another pivotal District 22-4A match.