High School Sports

CARTHAGE -- Robert E. Lee narrowly missed winning the Carthage Tournament championship, losing a thriller in three games to White Oak.

Lee opened championship bracket play with two-game sweeps of Hallsville (25-16, 25-17) and Bullard (25-13, 25-21).

After losing the first game, White Oak won the second and nipped Lee in the decider to prevail 17-25, 25-16, 26-24.

The loss marked the first all season for Lee, now 6-1 after one week of action.

Lee played short-handed down the stretch after libero Eva Story went out with an injury.

'We played well until that," said Lee coach Melissa Lee.

Against Hallsville, Sarah Sivertson recorded six kills and seven assists, and Story five digs to lead the way.

Sivertson kept it going against Bullard with 10 kills, nine assists and two blocks. Caroline Jordan added eight kills and Story eight digs.

In the White Oak match, Sivertson paced Lee with nine kills, 13 assists and five blocks while Sydney Lindsay chipped in with 10 kills and10 digs.

The Lady Raiders will play their home opener Tuesday with a dual match against Van and Whitehouse. The action starts with Lee playing Whitehouse at 5 p.m.

JT Takes Two Wins

In Challenger's

GARLAND -- John Tyler reversed its fortunes from the first day, winning two of three volleyball matches Saturday in the Garland ISD Tournament.

The Lady Lions defeated Irving Nimitz (25-21, 25-14) and Killeen Harker Heights (22-25, 25-21, 25-15) before losing to Cedar Hill (25-14, 25-19) in the semifinals of the challenger's bracket.

Cedar Hill posed problems with a lineup featuring two six-footers and another girl around 5-11.

JT played again without two key performers -- senior middle blocker Alexis White and junior defensive specialist Kelvicia Warren. The Lady Lions lost two of three matches on Friday before bouncing back to even their record at 4-4 on the young season.

Briona Jordan led JT in hitting, with sophomore Shakendra Mumphrey also "hitting well," according to JT coach Stephanie March-Smith. Chelsea Black, another sophomore, was complimented for being "more consistent on her sets."

"Overall, I was pleased with how we did compared to yesterday," March-Smith said. "They played a lot better. They all served well. The whole day we had only five serving errors. We kind of dropped off in the first game against Cedar Hill but they came back and battled."

JT returns to action Tuesday at Lufkin.