The Red Level Lady Tigers volleyball team got their season off to a good start Thursday night by defeating Highland Home, 3-2.

The Lady Tigers took the first game, 25-16, but lost the second and third, 13-25, 21-25.

In the third game to bring the match to a tie, the Lady Tigers won by four points, 25-21.

In the tiebreak, in order to win a team must win by two points. Red Level put 15 points on the board compared to Highland Home’s 13.

“We have a lot to work on,” RLS coach Heather Walden said. “I do realize that the nerves really kicked in for the girls (Thursday night), but I would like to see that quickly fade away and for my girls to play some intense volleyball this season.

“We are really going to concentrate on our serving during practice,” she said. “We must be more consistent with our serving.”

Kinston 3,Pleasant Home 0

Pleasant Home coach Jerry Davis said his team did well against Kinston Thursday night, despite taking the loss.

“Realistically, I think we did pretty good,” he said. “One good thing that came out of it was that our junior varsity team won.”

The varsity girls were defeated in three games, 25-14, 25-8, 25-21.

Davis said one guarantee about Kinston’s program is they will always have a volleyball team of high caliber.

“I can assure you that there are not many volleyball teams in the same league with Kinston,” he said. “It was a good one to open with.”

In the junior varsity team’s win, the Lady Eagles won in two games, 25-16, 25-21.

Davis said one good thing about Thursday night was the varsity team’s “serving” and “spiking.”

“I was very impressed with Kinston, but at the same time we did a lot of things I wasn’t expecting them to do,” Davis said. “They weren’t down. They realized that they were playing someone a lot better than they were.”

Some things Davis said his team was working on at practice Friday were transitions of movement, defense in spots and reaction time.

The Lady Eagles will travel to play Red Level next Tues., Aug. 25, at 4 p.m.