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The Dupo Lady Tigers varsity volleyball squad lost to the Valmeyer Lady Pirates 25-14, 25-17 on Thursday, September 17th. The game, which was part of a national ‘Dig Pink’ effort for the Side Out organization, was well attended. But the Lady Tigers, who are definitely an improved team, are still having problems gaining wins over some of the more established programs in the conference. But it’s not for a lack of effort that the wins haven’t come. Dupo coach Jill Puckett said, “I really commend our girls for their effort. They played really hard tonight. Valmeyer is a really good team. So far they’ve won all of their conference games and we knew that going in. We hung with them for a little while but we still have some work to do.”
The Lady Tigers kept it close early on in both games tied with the Lady Pirates 4-4 and 5-5 in each of the games. But Valmeyer found ways to gain leads and keep them in both games. The Lady Pirates exhibited fine net play, great sets and nice floor work with great digs and saves. Their ball placement in both the serve and volley had the Lady Tigers guessing at times. The Lady Tigers did fight back in each contest, to within four points at 16-12 in the first game. In the second game some substitutions seemed to pay off for the Lady Tigers who were down 13-4 and clawed their way back to within four points at 14-10 in the second game. But the Lady Pirates were successful in each game in holding off the Lady Tigers who showed a lot of heart and determination in each contest.
The loss came in the middle of a busy week for the Lady Tigers who played four consecutive games Monday through Thursday. The Lady Tigers beat Valley Park on Monday, lost to Steeleville on Tuesday and beat Madison on Wednesday. The Lady Tigers are also scheduled to play in a tournament on Saturday, September 19th at Orchard Farm in Missouri. A busy week for any student athlete but especially for the Lady Tigers who were also engaged in fund raising activities and preparations for the ‘Dig Pink’ match against Valmeyer.
The Lady Tigers are 3-4 going into the Orchard Farm Tournament and have a number of difficult Cahokia Conference matches left against New Athens, Marissa, Lebanon, Steeleville and Valmeyer. I asked Coach Puckett about the difference between the team’s wins and losses. She responded, “It’s the difference in competition. When we’re winning we’re playing other small schools with situations similar to ours. Sometimes height is an issue. We have a couple girls who are tall but Steeleville had four of six girls on the court around six feet.”
So how is it that other programs from small schools compete at a higher level? Coach Puckett said, “Our girls don’t play year round and a lot of the girls on Valmeyer’s team and others in our conference play a lot of club ball in the off season throughout the year. We’re a softball school and probably will be forever. Some of our girls are still playing softball on weekends. They’re still involved in athletic competition but it’s not volleyball. So it’s tough to keep up with other programs when our athletes are involved in other sports year round.”
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