Lady Tigers down Lady Viks

VALE – In the opener of the season for both teams, the La Grande Tigers made the trip to Vale a success, downing the Vikings 3-1 in volleyball action Thursday.

The fans present for both squads were able to see a typical early season match. There were flashes of brilliance on both sides, long points and hard hits. There were also the early season mistakes from both sides including long serves and balls hitting the ground while teammates looked at each other.

Vale grabbed the early lead in game one and cruised to a 25-17 victory.

Game two found the two teams battling back and forth before La Grande was able to eke out a 25-23 win to knot up the match.

Game three was all Tigers with La Grande cruising to an easy 24-14 win. In game four, the Tigers jumped out early with the Vikings battling back late in the game. In the end, the Tigers took the 26-24 victory and headed to the bus the victor.

Both teams enter their respective seasons similar with returning players backed up by some new faces on the court.

“We have some great players back from last year, backed up by some younger players that played well tonight,” said 4A La Grande coach Melinda Becker-Bisenius.

“We needed to keep the intensity we showed in game one,” 3A Vale coach Shannon Steele said. “I saw some things I liked for the first match of the year.”

As a team, the Vikings served 88 percent from the line with Emmersyn Johnson, Alissa Fulwyler and Tyanna Norton serving perfect for the night.

Offensively, Vale was led by Jaymeson Jensen with nine kills. Maycee Delong added 27 assists.

Statistics for the Tigers were not available.