Ephrata gets swept
Pam Robel/Columbia Basin Herald<br>Breanne Duff dumps off a set against Ellensburg Thursday.
Lady Tigers go down fighting
EPHRATA — The Lady Tigers came out tough in game three against Ellensburg but could not pull out a win and lost the match 15-25, 11-25, 19-25 Thursday.
Ephrata kept it close in game three, earning the first point of the game on an Ellensburg sideout and maintaining a neck-in-neck score until the Lady Bulldogs gained serve after Breanne Duff sent a serve out of bounds.
On some solid play by Britney Ratigan, Ephrata was about to stay in the thick of the game, keeping the score close until Ellensburg went on a 6-point scoring run to make it 21-11.
"I thought Britney played well. She played scrappy, intense volleyball," said Ephrata head coach Kim Crown. "She's always pushing."
The Lady Tigers earned a sideout with a kill by Sarah Thomas but could not hold serve, siding out on the next play.
A kill by Ratigan returned serve to Ephrata and sent Duff back to serve. Duff caught Ellensburg off gaurd and served six consecutive points, including two aces to get her team right back in the game. During Duff's stint serving, the duo of Briana Moser and Greer Monson teamed up for two big back-to-back blocks to earn points for the Lady Tigers. Moser also had a hit to earn the first point of the possession.
"I thought we played well. I would look up and not realize we were so far behind because I thought we were doing good things," Crown said. "We played them much better tonight than the last time we played them."
Ephrata sided out on a serve that hit the net and ended the game with Casey Tate hitting the floor in an effort to dig up a serve.
In game two Ephrata suffered through two scoring runs by Ellensburg, the first came after a kill to stifle the momentum the Lady Tigers had begun to build up winning the first two points of the game.
The Lady Bulldogs gained possession and went on a 10-0 scoring run before Ephrata could earn a sideout.
Ellensburg put together a second scoring run with the game standing at 17-10, earning six points on serve before siding out on game point.
The first game of the night saw another late scoring run by Ellensburg that put them over the top for the win.
Ratigan led the Lady Tigers with 10 kills and six digs. Thomas had five kills and three blocks. Tate had five digs and was 8-for-9 serving. Moser had three blocks and two kills. Duff had 14 assists and three kills.
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