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Lady Titans fall short despite gutsy effort

From Staff Reports

Published: October 28, 2009

The McDowell Lady Titans didn't win their second-round State 4A Playoff match against the Watauga Pioneers Tuesday, but it's likely their coach wouldn't have been any prouder of them if they had.
"I don't think we could have played any harder," said McDowell head coach Stephanie Pace of her team's 3-1 loss to the Pioneers. "I'm so proud of them. We played very well. There's a reason why Watauga has only lost three games. They have a great program with both their varsity and jayvee teams, so give credit to them."
The Lady Titans (17-9), the second seed from the Mountain Athletic Conference, had dropped two regular-season meetings with Watauga (23-3) — the Northwestern 4A champions — in straight sets.
But McDowell played the Pioneers close throughout the second and third sets Tuesday. After losing the first set 25-12, the Lady Titans made a run at Watauga before falling 26-24. McDowell won the third set 25-19 before falling 25-16 in the finale.
"The second game, we were right there with them the whole game," said Pace.
Tuccoa Brackett had nine kills, nine solo blocks, 13 block assists and 17 digs to lead the Lady Titans statistically. Megan Gouge also had an impressive game at the net with eight kills, four solo blocks and three block assists.
Hannah Lewis added an ace, six kills, one solo block, one block assist and 16 digs. Tera Anderson tallied 11 assists and five digs, while Taylor Proctor recorded eight assists and six digs. Mary Webb had five aces — and served the first five points of game three — and 16 digs.
McDowell's final record represented a dramatic turnaround from last season, when the Lady Titans finished 2-17.