The hype is always high after winning a State Championship, but over time that hype begins to fade. People start to question things because pieces of “that” Championship are different or missing. Some players graduate, some players are added, players are shuffled around, etc. For the Mansfield Lady Tigers volleyball team though, those questions no longer need to be applied as Mansfield defeated LifeWay Christian three sets to one on Tuesday, August 23rd in a 2021 State Championship rematch.
After a victory over Ozark last Tuesday, Mansfield was eager to step up to the nets again. The Lady Tigers jumped out of the gate quickly handing LifeWay a swift 25-18 whipping in the first set. But with volleyball, to win one doesn’t mean that you’re done. The Lady Warriors pulled together and battled even harder in the second set but were finally put down with a commanding spike by Mansfield freshman Kaylee Ward for a 25-23 Mansfield victory in the second set. With the ol’ one two punch handed to LifeWay, one would think the Lady Tigers would have LifeWay on the ropes begging for life support. But that was not the case.
The Lady Warriors took Mansfield by surprise in the third set of the night with a back and forth edge of the seat volleyball showcase for the ages. LifeWay had Mansfield down 10-15 early on until Alyson Edwards rolled up three straight points to build up some momentum for the Lady Tigers. Natalie Allison would tie the game at 18-18 as she charged the net aiming to drill the ball through the wooden floor only to possum the Lady Warriors and softly tap the ball into a LifeWay dead zone. The Lady Warriors would retake the lead only to have Kynslee Ward bring Mansfield back to tie again. Alyson Edwards would give the Lady Tigers their first lead in the set at 22-21 but LifeWay wouldn’t lay down. Back and forth the teams went making more ties than a Boyscout troop. From 22-21 to 22-22, 22-23, 23-23, 23-24 (you get the point) until the Lady Warriors ended the set with a 25-23 win over Mansfield.
Although Mansfield still had a two set to one lead on LifeWay, the lost set put the Lady Tigers in a place they hadn’t seen in a while. How would Mansfield handle losing such an exhausting hard-fought set? Simple. Like Champions. The Lady Tigers came out in the fourth set with their tails on fire and racked up eleven points before LifeWay even got on the board. The early charge forced LifeWay to call a timeout with the score set at 16-4 in Mansfield’s favor. If the Lady Warriors were looking to catch their breath, they would have to look harder as Seven Sanderson slammed the volleyball to the floor through double team right after the timeout. Kynslee Ward followed suit by knocking down back-to-back points and the Lady Tigers cruised from there with a 25-9 final score to the set and a three sets to one overall victory.
So is the hype legitimate? With a full season ahead of them, anything could still be in store for the Lady Tigers. That’s why the games are played. But when a defending Champion repeats success over their previous year’s State Finals opponent with authority, the hype can be hard to ignore. All Mansfield can do is take it one game at a time. That next game though will come sooner than later as the Lady Tigers will only get a day’s rest before going back into action as they welcome Founders Academy to the Jungle on Thursday, August 25th.
