LITTLE ROCK- People often say that the most improvement a team will make is from their first game to their second. And after a rough outing at Russellville on Tuesday night, the Paris Lady Eagles returned to the road 48 hours later to take on the Pulaski Academy Lady Bruins in Little Rock on Thursday night.
Paris’s second consecutive match on the road at a Class 5A school to start the 2023 season would be a test for the young team that fought hard in Russellville but made untimely mistakes during the match that kept them playing from behind for almost the entire match.
But coach Josh Hart’s team came out swinging and never let up until Paris had swept the Lady Bruins in three consecutive sets. Ironically, the Paris team arrived at Pulaski Academy inside of 20 minutes before the start of the junior varsity match. But the Lady Eagles flew off the bus, ready to play, and play well they did.
Paris won all three sets in convincing fashion, and it appeared to be a shell-shocked Lady Bruins team who had played well over Paris during summer camp at Benton but did not look like the same team on Thursday against Paris.
The Paris back line was instrumental in the win over Pulaski Academy. On Tuesday at Russellville, the back line struggled, but on Thursday night, the defensive specialists, the libero, and the setters for the Lady Eagles were flying all over the floor, making great saves and keeping vollies alive that ended in scoring opportunities for Paris. Coach Hart’s team on the floor and the players on the bench were enthusiastic and had great energy throughout the match. For just their second game of the season, it was a complete game effort for the Lady Eagles. So many players made big contributions to the win; front line, setters, defensive specialists, and liberos, all played extremely well.
With the win, Paris improves their record to 1-1 on the season, splitting two road games against 5A opponents. The loss drops the Lady Bruins to 0-3 on the season. PA has losses to Sheridan, Pottsville, and now to Paris to start their season.
Paris will return to Little Rock on Saturday to play in the Spike Fest invitational tournament. On Tuesday, August 29, Paris will open its home and conference season when they host the Charleston Lady Tigers. Paris will end the month of August on the road again when they travel to Hackett to take on the preseason 3A West favorite, Lady Hornets.
Pulaski Academy will travel to Sylvan Hills on Monday, August 28 to play the Lady Bears in a conference match-up. The Lady Bruins will travel again in less than 24 hours to play Little Rock Christian on Tuesday, August 29, and will end the week with their third consecutive road trip when they travel across town to take on the 2022 Class 3A state champions Little Rock Baptist Prep on Thursday, August 31.
RNN Sports will be in Paris on August 29 to bring you coverage of the Lady Eagles’ conference opener with Charleston. Congratulations to the Paris Lady Eagles for an impressive road victory!
