NOXON – While they came back in defeat, Noxon’s Lady Red Devils played an intense game against the St. Regis Lady Tigers and made the opposition work for the win.

The game started close with St. Regis pulling ahead early. While Noxon kept close, The Lady Tigers kept two to three points ahead. The home team pulled ahead to a strong lead, but the Lady Red Devils were able to pull back and close back to being two points behind. St. Regis pulled back ahead and ended the set with a score of 25-20.

In the second set, the Noxon girls scored first and quickly pulled ahead to a lead. St. Regis started to pull back, but they were not able to keep the opposition from grabbing a win with a score of 25-16.

The third set was extremely close. The Lady Tigers came out ahead with the Noxon girls not far behind. Noxon pulled back to tie the score before pulling ahead themselves. St. Regis tied the game themselves, but Noxon pulled ahead again. The Lady Tigers kept close, before tying the score at 23 points and pulling ahead for a 25-23 win.

St. Regis continued with the rally into the fourth set, gaining an early lead. Noxon kept close and tied the score. The home team regained the lead, but the Lady Red Devils were able to bring it to another tie. It was a deadlock of defenses as the teams battled to get ahead; the Lady Tigers eventually pulled back ahead and leaping out to a 25-16 win.

Noxon Head Coach Teri Wilkinson felt the teams were evenly matched. She said their goal was to work their plays, since they suddenly needed to replace a position.

“That was our goal, to figure out how we’re going to fill that spot,” she said.

Overall, the coach felt her team did well working with the adjustments. Their freshmen got lots of time in the court, providing good plays and great experience for the girls.

While the whole team had a great game, some of the players brought in great stats. Cory Brodmerkle had a great game at the net, making a number of great blocks and hitting spikes, which earned the team points. Madison Koontz was also praised, as this was her first varsity game ever; Wilkinson said she played very well and held her own on the court among the more experienced players.

This week, the Lady Red Devils will be going to the district tournament in Superior. They will likely be facing St. Regis again, though the brackets had not been decided at the time. Wilkinson was confident it would be a good game with lots of strong plays.

“It’ll be a fight to the end, whoever wants it most,” she said.

Leading up to the first day of tournament, the girls will be looking to fill their open position as well as working on passing, tips and off hits.