Last Wednesday marked a changing of the guard for the Live Oak volleyball team as the Eagles opened their 2024 season at Episcopal.
The match was the first under head coach Jordan Woods, who had served as an Eagles assistant under former coach Janie Tidwell. The Eagles are looking to find a killer instinct, something that will help them close out sets and finish off opponents late in their matches.
Against Episcopal, the tension ramped up before the Eagles eventually fell in five sets.
The individual set scores told part of the story -- 22-25, 25-18, 13-25, 25-21, 14-16 -- but there was more. For a Live Oak team that is trying to learn how to close, there were good and bad signs.
"Coming in I knew it was going to be tough," Woods said. "We've got five seniors and we really wanted to pull it out. There's a lot of emotion right now but we're going to be OK."
The Eagles built leads in the second and fourth sets and held on to win both. On the other hand, they led the first set 20-16 before Episcopal scored seven straight points on its way to a come-from-behind set win. But the biggest disappointment came in the deciding fifth set.
Live Oak trailed 8-5, but rallied winning seven of the following eight points to take a 12-9 lead. The Eagles kept the pressure on, and a tip kill by Amelie LaFleur followed by a service winner from Peyton Shields gave the visitors a 14-12 lead.
The Eagles were one point from winning the match, but it didn't happen this time.
Episcopal buckled down and scored the final four points, but there were still plenty of positives for Live Oak to build on.
"I'm super proud," Woods said. "Last year, we couldn't finish and I think we did a lot better with that tonight."
Junior Da'Miaya Dunn had the most success with a team-high nine kills. LaFleur, a senior, finished with seven kills and senior Elisa Hodges had five kills.
Live Oak still has plenty of time to improve.
On a side note, Live Oak is without its unofficial mascot of the last few seasons, Tidwell's schnauzer Winston. He became well-known by fans and opposing teams as he took a seat next to Tidwell on the team bench. Winston passed away the day before the Episcopal match at the age of 13. His passing is noted with fondness.