The Mineola Lady Jackets lost for the first time this season Friday afternoon, falling 14-25, 18-25, 24-26 to the Lady Panthers of Mabank. Mineola struggled to break serve as often as they like and did not maintain long serve rallies once they did. 

Coach TaShara Stephens sees defensive work is needed. She was calling for her players to move faster to the ball throughout the game. They dropped four quick points to the Lady Tigers and were unable to close the margin in the first game.

With the score 20-11 Mabank, Stephens implored the Lady Jackets, “We’re playing from behind, every ball counts, let’s go!”

They responded with two solid points in a row, something rare early in the match. Lesser teams might have shrunk at the difficult task in front of them, to fight back against an opponent who was outplaying them, and have the games’ scores get out of hand; instead, the Lady Jackets continued to be coached, put in effort and made each successive game closer than the last. 

They showed signs of life in the second game, gaining momentum on consecutive points off the serves of Mylee Fischer, who saw action as setter, swapping with Alyssa Langford and Madison Bloodworth.

Coach Stephens  particularly likes being able to switch her setters and see that the Lady Jackets, “can still flow and we can still play,” with different lineups, which they made use of late in the match.

Mineola gained its first lead at 22-21 in the third game, the most hotly contested of the match, forcing Mabank to call its first timeout of the evening.

The Lady Jackets moved better and played better defense in the last game and “were almost back to our old selves,” according to Coach Stephens. The Mineola coach emphasized how playing this quality of an opponent helps prepare her players for district play and concluded she would, “rather lose now than in district.”

The Lady Jackets commence district competition Tuesday evening when they host Mount Vernon.