By Marcus Elliott
Sports Editor
Melissa continued its grueling pre-district schedule this week with a road game in Farmersville and playing in the Prosper tourney. The Lady Cardinals rallied to win on Tuesday night in Farmersville and won their set against Ft. Worth Polytechnic in the tournament.
"We learned how to step up and play to our ability this week," coach Whitney Bates said after the win in Farmersville. "We are working on fighting through until the end of the game and coming out on top with wins."
Melissa 3, Farmersville 2
On Tuesday night, Melissa lined up against Farmersville and took the set the distance. The Lady Farmers won the first two matches, 14-25 and 15-25, but Melissa kept their focus to rally for the win.
Shelby Hill led the Lady Cards with 11 kills, 11 assists, a block and an ace as Melissa fought their way back into the game.
Facing elimination, Melissa took control in the third game and won the game convincingly 25-16. Miranda Bates, five kills and 10 assists, and Caitlin Jones, three kills and two blocks, stepped up their play in the match to keep the Farmersville offense in check.
With the momentum now in favor of the Lady Cardinals, Taylor Murphy and Stephanie Villarreal led Melissa to a 25-20 win in the fourth game. With the set tied at two, Melissa put the game away with a 15-11 win in the fifth and final match to upset the 3A team.
Bates said after the game that she was proud of her team for winning the hard fought game.
Skylynn Barker had a kill and an assist, Mary Beythan added two kills and Emily Nelson had two kills and an ace to help bring Melissa back for the win.
Melissa 0, North Lamar 2
On Saturday in Prosper, the Lady Cardinals played in the Bronze Pool play in the Prosper Tournament and Lost to Paris North Lamar 0-2.
North Lamar won the first match 18-25 and the second 12-25.
Melissa, 2 FW Polytechnic 0
In their win on Saturday, the Lady Cardinals crushed FW Polytechnic 25-10 and then 25-1 in the second match to take the set.
Melissa 1, Pilot Point 2
Melissa won their first match 25-12 but could not hold off Pilot Point in the next two as the Lady Cards fell 22-25 and then 25-27
Melissa 1, Van Alstyne 2
On Friday, the Lady Cardinals took on Van Alstyne and won the first match 29-27 but lost the next two games of the set, 21-25 and 23-25.
Melissa 0, Brewer 2
Brewer beat Melissa in two, 12-25 and 18-25.
Melissa 0, Gunter 2
Melissa fell against Gunter in two games 21-25 and 18-25.
In the tournament, Jones compiled 29 kills and four blocks while Hill had 26 kills, 8 blocks and two aces. Bates had strong middle play, with 42 assists and 15 kills and Murphy had 14 kills and five blocked kills.
The Lady Cards will play in the Royse City tournament this weekend and will travel to North Lamar next Tuesday.