<I>The Eagle/Dan Toner</I><BR>Tigers senior Tiffanie Hunt sets up for a kill during the second game of Dayville/Monument's loss to Adrian at Dayville School on Sept. 21.

DAYVILLE – TheDayville/Monument volleyball team was left with its first 1A High Desert League loss Sept. 21 when powerhouse Adrian came to town and left with a 3-0 sweep.

“I’m very pleased that our girls didn’t get intimidated by them,” said Tiger Head Coach Joanne Flower. “We struggled with consistency in our serving, and we couldn’t get our offense going.”

The Antelopes started the first game on a 9-0 run led at the line by the serving of Sammy Brown and two kills by Paige Branstiter. Branstiter, a hard-hitting senior, gave the Tigers all they could handle throughout the match.

“She’s (Branstiter) an excellent player and we all knew that going into the game,” said Flower. “So we tried to plan accordingly, but she played in a couple of positions we didn’t anticipate.”

Adrian’s 9-0 ended after a Tiger timeout when McKenzie Purnell misfired on a kill attempt, and Tiger senior Denise Woosley scored on a serve, cutting the Antelope’s lead to 9-2.

The Tigers continued on a 4-1 run highlighted by putback from senior Tiffanie Hunt, an Antelope miscue, and an ace from Tiger freshman Shyanne Winters, making it 10-5.

But the Antelopes responded with a 11-4 run off kills from Branstiter and Purnell, putting the game out of reach for the Tigers where it finally ended at 25-10.

“They (the Antelopes) have good setters,” said Tiger senior Amanda King. “We need to go back to practice and work hard to improve our teamwork.”

Adrian jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the second game before a fault and a net violation, and a King ace gave the Tigers a 3-0 run.

“Amanda is one of my best passers and she had to take some pretty good hits throughout the match,” said Flower. “She worked hard and she’s a great athlete, all of my players worked hard.”

Even though the second game ended a little better than the first for the Tigers, the Antelopes still won 24-13, putting themselves in position to complete the sweep.

And in the third game, Adrian did just that with a 25-23 win to clinch the match.

“The third game we played much better and we led for a good part of it,” said Flower. “I think we definitely grew with each game and to continue gaining points on a team like Adrian was great. We didn’t give up.”

The Tigers played Ukiah Sept. 25 in Monument, but results were not available at press time. Next up, they are hosting Mt. Bachelor at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, in Dayville and Spray/Mitchell at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, also at Dayville.