Lady Cardinals Suffer Two Tough Losses

The Lady Cardinals hosted a pair of home games last week against district opponents.  The Lady Cardinals week began last Wednesday as they hosted the Lady Trojans from Wendell.  This match became an instant classic with plenty of thrills.  In the first set Wendell took control of the game early and built a nine point lead.  The Lady Cards were not going to go down easy and slowly chipped away at the lead.  Eventually Soda Springs was able to tie the game at seventeen.  The momentum swung back and forth with the set getting tied at twenty-three.  Then the Cardinals were called for an in the net and could not secure a side out on the ensuing serve, dropping set one by two points.  In the second set the Lady Cards jumped out to an early lead but once the game became tied at seven the Lady Trojans took over and slowly pulled away for the set two win.  The Lady Cards were now in a crucial must win set three to extend the match.  Once again the Lady Cardinals jumped out to a small lead.  The game turned into a see-saw battle with Soda Springs holding a slim lead for much of the set.  The Lady Cards earned the first set point leading 24-21 but could not put the set away at that point.  The Lady Trojans scored the next four points giving them a match point opportunity.  Soda Springs were able to stop the run and tied the game at twenty-five.  The back and forth continued for the next several serves.  Wendell earned another match point opportunity when the score reached 28-27.  Finally with Josie Tingy serving the Cardinals put three points together to finish with their first set win of the match.  The fourth set was all Soda Springs as the Lady Cardinals grabbed the early lead and never looked back.  The match was now tied at two sets a piece.  In the winner takes all fifth set Soda Springs started once again with a very slim two point lead that they maintained until the ninth point.  Wendell tied the game at nine then again at ten.  From there the Lady Trojans did not look back, winning the fifth set and the match.

Following the tough loss to Wendell the Lady Cards were rewarded by turning around twenty four hours later and hosting the district top seeded team Malad.  Soda fought hard against the top team in the first set but eventually fell by just two points.  The Lady Dragons followed the first set with two more convincing set wins and took the match.

The Lady Cardinals face two more district foes this week.  On Wednesday they traveled to Aberdeen and Thursday they host Declo.  These will be crucial games to win for district tournament placings.

Cardinals 23 14 30 25 11

Trojans 25 25 28 16 15

Cardinals 24 12 17

Dragons 26 25 25