HAMILTON CITY – Despite being ranked 7^th in playoff points, the Dunsmuir Lady Tigers wound up seeded 10^th,  and on the road playing the seventh-seeded Providence Christian Lady Lions—a team ranked 10^th in playoff points that Dunsmuir had beat twice during the season.

It’s been said that it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season, and that turned out to be the case for Dunsmuir, as they fell 3-0 to Providence.

The match started well for Dunsmuir, when the Lady Tigers jumped to a 4-0 lead behind the serving of Jennifer Hope, who had an ace on her first serve. Providence, however, rebounded to go on a 13-3 run to take a 13-7 lead. Providence continued with a strong game and won 25-17.

Providence served first in game-two, but a kill by Hope gave the Lady Tigers the serve and a 1-0 lead. A kill by Heather Coe made it 3-1. Leading 7-4, Annie Van Ert nailed a kill, and Rose Spagnolo notched an ace to increase the lead to five points at 9-4. Providence battled back to tie the game at 9-9, and again at 13-13. Dunsmuir then scored three straight—including a kill by Katie MacIntyre and an ace by Hope to lead 16-13. Providence again tied the game at 16-16, but Coe nailed a pair of kills to help the Lady Tigers score three in a row and go up 19-16. The game was tied at 20-20, when Coe added another kill to give Dunsmuir a 21-20 advantage.

Providence scored four straight to bring it to game point, 24-21. A kill by Hope made it 24-22, and gave the Lady Tigers a chance to rally back. But, Providence held on to win 25-22.

The Lady Tigers were in a deep hole early in game-three, trailing 9-3. Then Jamie Kirch went to work with four straight aces to close the gap to two points at 9-7. Dunsmuir maintained contact, and a kill by Hope brought them within a point at 18-17. Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, that was as close as they would get, as Providence went on to win the game 25-21, and the match 3-0. The loss eliminated Dunsmuir from the NSCIF D-VI playoffs.

The Lady Tigers finished the season in third place in the Evergreen League at 7-3, and had an overall record of 11-10.

“Overall, I’m proud of the girls. This is about the same team from last year, minus one senior, that only won three games all of last season. So, I think they made a huge accomplishment this year,” said Dunsmuir coach Lisa Kirch.