COVINGTON – Thursday’s game against Miami East showcased great effort and enthusiasm by the Lady Buccs even though they lost in four sets by the scores of 21-25, 25-12, 21-25 and 25-27.

“We knew Miami east was going to a competitive match and it did not disappoint,” commented coach Sloane Green. “I am proud for how we stayed in it through long rallies and bounced back when they challenged us.”

The first set was tight from start to finish, but the Lady Buccs came up short down the stretch that led to Miami East going up 1-0 with a 25-21 win.

Right before the second set, many Covington student/athletes from other sports were able to enter the gymnasium to support the Lady Buccs. This ignited the team as the Lady Buccs recoded a dominating 25-12 win to tie the match at 1-1.

Miami East is very talented and resilient, which showed up in the third set by retaking momentum with a seven-point lead. After a Covington timeout, the Lady Buccs battled back to close the gap to 22-21, but Miami East scored three straight points to close out the set 25-21.

With an unfortunate loss in the third set, the Lady Buccs never surrendered as they continued to put forth so much effort and intensity. This led the fourth set very close down the stretch, but a few mistakes benefitted Miami East into a 27-25 victory that ended the match.

Ramsé Vanderhorst and Ava Hartwig had a great defensive match and Alison Sink served a pair of aces. Kylie Palsgrove pounded out 11 kills and Madelyn Batdorf had 7 kills.

Even though losing to the defending league champions, Covington his heading into a higher level.

“I thought we played some of the best volleyball we’ve played yet and it’s just the beginning,” said Coach Green. “It’s really fun to see how our team can compete!”

The Lady Buccs are now 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the TRC. Next is another critical league matchup at Troy Christian on Tuesday.