Lady Tigers lose first match

ODESSA- The Lady Tigers faced the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncs for their first non-league match on Thursday, Sept. 8.

Odessa opened with a powerful defense in the first set despite losing with a score of 20-25.

The back and forth with LRS was impressive for a 1B team competing against a larger 2B team.

LRS dominated in the second set with a score of 10-25.

Odessa came back with a win in the third set with a score of 25-18.

Junior Melloney Deife and Senior Hayden Schuh led the Tigers statistically. Deife had eight aces and 19 assists. Schuh had eight kills and two blocks.

A fourth set brought another narrow Odessa loss with a score of 21-25.

Coach Suzie Deife was pleased with how hard Odessa played against a bigger school.

"The girls played hard," she said. "We will learn from our mistakes tonight and keep moving forward."

Odessa came back with a win in their first league against Valley Christian on Sept. 13.

The Lady Tigers won the first set with a close score of 25-23.

Valley Christian fell behind in the second set with a 25-17 result.

Senior Laela Hardung, Junior Melloney Deife, Sophomore Lily Starkel and Senior Hayden Schuh were prominent on the stat sheet.

Hardung had three aces and Deife had 16 assists.

Schuh had six kills, one block and six digs. Starkel had two blocks.

Odessa won the third and final set with a score of 25-13.

The Lady Tigers face Waterville/Mansfield in their first home game on Tuesday, Sept. 20.