Italy – The Lady Gladiator varsity volleyball team put one in the win column Tuesday night when they hosted their South Ellis County rivals, the Lady Bulldogs of Milford. They won all three games 25-22, 25-20 and 25-21.

“I am happy with our awesome play tonight,” said head coach, Morgan Mathews. “I think this was the best we have played so far. We ran plays and we played to win. Everyone did their job and they played as a team.”

In game one, Jac Lewis, Kortnei Johnson and Halee Turner fought hard on defense. Offensively, Bailey Eubank, Tara Wallis and Lewis took control of the court with strong serving. The game started with Italy ahead 1-0 and the Lady Gladiators never lost their lead.

Johnson, Lewis, Eubank and Turner stepped up the pace with digs, blocks and kills. Late in the game, Milford closed the gap 23-22 with a block by Stormy Dawkins. Paige Westbrook got an important kill to bring Italy back within one of the win. Eubank and Turner finished the game off with on-time saves to keep the ball in play.

Stormy Dawkins kept her Lady Bulldogs in game two with on-point serving to tie the game at 6 and served up seven more unanswered points to give Milford a 13-6 lead early. Tara Wallis retaliated by serving up 4 points. Jamie McIntyre exploded on defense to give Milford an edge. Italy dug in and pulled ahead 20-19 and never looked back scoring 5 straight points to finish the game.

Italy showed their defensive skill in game three with kills, blocks and digs, keeping the ball in play to retain their lead. Milford fought back, but just could not keep up with the Lady Gladiators. Italy was ahead 18-17 and pulled ahead 22-17 with Lewis serving. Johnson’s unreturnable tap over the net on the last play gave Italy the win.

2-0 in district, Baby!