But you would be hard pressed to convince the Navarro Lady Dawgs of that after the Lady Leopards cruised to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 win at TC Gym on Tuesday night in their home opener.
“It was essential that we came out strong,” TC coach Mary Reese said. “We came back after a disappointing weekend where we didn’t play badly. They just let some things affect them.”
That weekend saw the Lady Leopards go 1-3 at the Navarro Tournament, including a four-game loss to the Lady Dawgs.
Tuesday’s rematch was never in doubt as TC scored the first five points of the match by scoring in almost every way possible - two solid kills and a block by Academy product Heather Lisenbe, an ace by Cheyenne Craigen and a hitting error by Navarro.
“When we were (in Navarro) it was always lead by two, down by two,” Reese said. “It was very close and they knew we were the better team. So it was paramount that they prove it.”
The Lady Leopards were relentless trailing only one time the entire match - when Navarro earned a point on the opening serve of Game 2.
But just like the first game, TC then scored five straight points, highlighted by a powerful kill by freshman Precious Sanders, who Reese had said could be one of the most dominating players.
“She has a ways to go,” Reese said of her performance on Tuesday. “She’s playing a new position. She’s on the right side which she never played before. In Bellville she was a very dynamic player on the outside.”
Sanders only ended with five kills but each one was quite memorable for the Dawgs, who had very little chance of a dig when the ball got past a blocker.
But the same could be said of sophomore Melissa Padgett, who led the team with 14 kills and also added eight digs and three blocks.
“I expect double-digit kills every match from Melissa,” Reese said. “We need to beef up those digs, but when you play a team that plays ‘patty cake’ you don’t get a lot of digs.”
Patty cake is a term the Lady Leopards use to describe soft hits and deeks, instead of true sets and spikes.
It happened a lot on Tuesday by both teams, not always by design but because of some bad passes and often some wild saves.
It allowed Navarro to stay close, especially in the final game as the Lady Dawgs were able to salvage several points on broken opportunities.
“We don’t play patty cake ball,” Reese said. “But we try to make sure we are prepared for it. When they give us patty cake, it’s kill time. We punish them for giving us a free ball.”
It didn’t always work for the Lady Leopards, but in the end, Reese said a win is a win.
“As a coach it is sort of a blessing when you only have to worry about patty cake,” she said. “Whenever they did swing big on us tonight, we picked it up easy. Even though it was a good game it wasn’t a great game because we allowed them to get points out of patty cakes. But most of the teams we play aren’t going to resort to that and it’s really not normal for (Navarro coach Wally Brooks) either.”
The Lady Leopards will be at the Blinn College Labor Day Classic this weekend and return home Tuesday for a tri-match with Panola and San Jacinto.
