The Opp Lady Bobcats and the Straughn Lady Tigers both fell to Providence Christian Monday in Opp, but the Lady Bobcats topped the Lady Tigers in the night’s  final contest.

“We played great,” Opp coach Bridgett Brantley said. “After playing this weekend against much bigger schools, we gained some confidence. If we can hang around with them, we can hang around with any one.”

Opp and Providence Christian started the night off, and Providence Christian defeated the Lady Bobcats 2-0.

In the second match, the Lady Tigers squared off with Providence Christian and also fell 2-0.

Straughn fell behind early in the fist set, but battled back thanks to a strong block from Ashley Hughes.

Straughn’s best rally consisted of four straight points while Derriunna Gantt was serving, but the Lady Tigers fell 25-15 in game one.

In the second game, Straughn fell behind again, but a big hit and an ace from Gantt put the game back in reach at 6-5. Providence then rallied for five points to take a 12-6 lead.

Straughn rallied with a big hit from Hannah Lawless followed by an ace from Brittany Maddox, a block from Lawless and then a block from Hughes to cut the lead to 17-13.

Providence never let up and went on to defeat the Lady Tigers 25-16.

Straughn started strong in the first match with the Lady Bobcats and opened with a 3-0 lead.

After a point from the Lady Bobcats, Gantt let out a punishing strike to take a 4-1 lead.

Straughn then took a 9-3 lead with an ace and a strong shot from Lawless and a block from Hughes.

The Lady Bobcats battled back following a powerful shot from Maggie Short that led to a three-point rally.

Straughn broke the rally with a big point from Lexie Cottle to take an 11-7 lead.

The next big point came from Gantt, who came up with a big block to give the Lady Tigers a 15-9 advantage. Meredith Rogers picked up an ace to put Straughn on top 18-10.

Opp rallied back with five straight points with Abigayle Barnett serving up an ace during the rally.

Straughn continued to play aggressive and finished out the first set with a 25-18 win.

In the second set, the Lady Tigers got the opening point, but a five-point rally by the Lady Bobcats gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Courtney Osborn capped the rally with an ace.

Scoring went back-and-forth for the next few points before a strong hit from Osborn led to a three-point rally for the Lady Bobcats. Hannah Wismer capped the rally with an ace.

Straughn tried to get a rally going following an ace from Rogers, but a strong block from Millicent Nolin crushed the rally attempt.

Scoring went back-and-forth again with the Lady Bobcats scoring the final two points for a 25-14 win.

In the third and final game of the evening, both teams scrapped for the win, but it was the Opp Lady Bobcats who emerged victorious.

The Lady Tigers got the first two points of the set, and went up top 3-1.

Nolin came up with a strong shot that hit the line to bring the score to 3-2, and the next point tied the contest.

Straughn took the led right back when Lawless faked a strong hit and instead dinked the ball over the net for a score.

The Lady Tigers went on top 7-4 with a drop shot over the net from Rogers.

Straughn rallied and came within on point of victory with a 14-12 lead, but a two-point rally from the Lady Bobcats tied the contest.

Straughn took a 15-14 advantage with a hard shot from Hughes, but the Lady Bobcats responded to tie the game back up.

A big block at the net from Hughes once again gave the Lady Tigers the advantage, but the Lady Bobcats once again forced a tie.

The Lady Bobcats then took a 17-16 lead, and Osborn capped off the contest with a strong shot to end the game.

“Every second of that match was intense,” Brantley said. “We came out slow in the first set, but we really turned it up in the last two. It’s huge for us to be playing like this and not have any seniors. That tells me that we are heading in the right direction.”

Opp will be back in action at home tonight against Kinston.

“We fought hard the third set, but we didn’t really show up in the second set,” Straughn coach Daniel Rodgers said. “We didn’t handle adversity well, and we haven’t handled it well the past few games. In the first set, we beat them pretty good and then we came out and kind of looked like that that was all we needed to do. We started sloppy in the second set and just couldn’t overcome it.”