Union volleyball loses tourney

The Union Lady Yellowjackets had their hands full on Monday night against defending state champion Ingomar.

The Lady Yellowjackets fell 3-1 on Monday night as Ingomar advanced to the 2A title game.

“They have a great team with great, great players,” Union coach Jacob Casey said. “We played them about as well as anybody could. I’m super proud of our girls and their effort. They made Ingomar earn every point. They have two really good player and one of them is a phenom. They have four players bigger than anybody on our team. They are 40-2 for a reason. We did manage to take a set from them and I think that was just the fifth or sixth set they have lost all season. I’m just super proud of my girls. They fought hard and made them earn every point.”

Union, playing before a packed house, won the first set 25-20 to take an early lead. But Ingomar bounced back and took the second set 25-21 to even the match.

“We kind of let the second set slip away from us,” Casey said. “They didn’t play very well in the first two sets. But we didn’t take advantage of that and let them get setting in. The second set was probably the difference in the match. When good teams give you opportunities, you have to take advantage of them. I’m just proud of our community. We had a huge turnout. It was packed and it was an electric atmosphere.”

After evening the match up, Ingomar took the third and fourth sets to win 3-1.

“We had an amazing year,” Casey said. “We finished 34-9 and won our district. We didn’t drop a set in district play. We beat a lot of really good teams this year. I could’t be more proud of the kids. Ingomar is probably one of the top five teams in the state and would probably win several other classes.”

In the second round, Union beat Water Valley 3-0, winning 25-6, 25-6 and 25-12.

In the third round, the Lady Yellowjackets won 3-0 again, beating Walnut in straight sets. Union won 25-12, 25-18 and 25-21 to advance to the Class 2A semifinals.