Pine Grove turned a first-set loss into a four-set victory over Saltillo on Thursday, Oct. 1, leading a night of three home wins for Tippah County girls varsity volleyball teams.
The Panthers won three consecutive sets to take the non-district match 3–1 and improve to 21–11. Ripley and Falkner needed only three sets apiece, sweeping Clarksdale and Biggersville in district play.
Saltillo took the opener 25–22 at Pine Grove, but the Panthers answered with a 25–20 second set and a 25–21 third. They then finished the match in the fourth, denying Saltillo a deciding fifth set. The visiting Tigers fell to 10–12.
The victory gave Pine Grove a winning return to action after Saturday’s county tournament. The Panthers had beaten Falkner and Ripley there before falling 2–0 to Walnut in their final match of the day. Thursday’s recovery also brought Pine Grove its 10th home victory of the season.
For Ripley, a 3–0 win over Clarksdale continued a different pattern: success against region opponents. The Tigers improved to 7–0 in the district standings and brought their overall record even at 15–15.
Ripley had already beaten Clarksdale in straight sets on the road Sept. 10. Thursday’s home sweep completed the pair of victories over the Wildcats, who dropped to 6–9. It also followed Tuesday’s 3–0 victory at Senatobia, giving Ripley consecutive district sweeps after Monday’s loss at Walnut.
Falkner opened its 3–0 victory over Biggersville with a 25–14 win on its home court, then followed with 25–19 and 25–15 sets to move to 7–3 in Class 1A Region 1 and 9–16 overall.
The Eagles had needed four sets to win at Biggersville on Sept. 21. This time they held the Lions below 20 points in every set. Combined with Monday’s sweep at Jumpertown, Falkner has won six straight sets since the county tournament.
