The Southern Boone volleyball team came out fired up to play the powerhouse Fatima Comets on Monday evening.

Eagles sophomore Sayde Taggart

The Eagles excited by the challenge and the Comets played as though they would rather be somewhere else; and that allowed SoBoCo to nearly steal a game from the Comets.

But Fatima hung tough in game one and then played like Fatima usually plays, sweeping the match in straight games. The Eagles fell to 1-2 on the season and played at Eugene on Tuesday – see bocojo.com for results.

“I was pleased with how we warmed up and came out so strong,” said Eagles coach Jamie Nelson. “I challenged them in the locker room before the game and told them I almost expected them to come out slow – but they were really ready to play tonight.”

Scoring by Sayde Taggart, a block by Emma Straub and Sydney Mattas’ defense kept the Eagles in the game early at 9-9 and a block by Carsyn Morris gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead. The lead went to two at 15-13 Eagles, but the Comets stepped on the gas and went ahead 20-19 and scored five of the next six points to win 25-20.

~ Read about game two in today’s Journal ~

By Bruce Wallace