5th/6th grade collapses late

No lead is safe, and unfortunately the 5th/6th grade girls learned the hard way Saturday.

They held a 13-6 lead in the third set, two points away from evening their record at .500 and increase their playoff chances exponentially. But in a collapse that will be tough to match, they were outscored 10-1 the rest of the way and lost the game and final set by a score of 16-14.

Every point not scored loomed large after the fact, as their inability to squeak out even one more point some time during the third set came back to haunt them.

Ashley got the third set off to a bad start when she faulted on her serve, evening the game up at 1-1. Up 12-5, Amy faulted on her serve. Then up 13-6, Annie got her ball over, but when the ball returned, it hit the ground with no St. Mary's girl making a concerted effort to get there. Instead, it just dropped in between confused girls in red jerseys, a sign of things to come.

Leading 13-7, a girl on the other team rolled off eight straight serves, and the girls found themselves trailing 14-13.

All of her serves were in the back row and landed in almost the exact same spot, time after time after time, and yet the girls in that area could not successfully return the ball.

Coach Ashley called a timeout when the girls still held a 13-11 lead, but it seemed like everything said in the huddle went in one ear and out the other. On the next point, the ball landed in between girls as the two stared at each other, confused as to who was supposed to get the ball.

Luckily, Justina was able to keep the girls alive when she was able to finally return a ball from the back row to tie the game back up at 14-14.

It was Isabella's turn to serve and she could've won the match for the 5th/6th grade. But the usually reliable server sent her serve wide right and out of bounds.

Down 15-14, the 5th/6th grade (2-4) could still continue playing if they could push one more point. The other team's serve hit the floor right between two girls in the front row, and a few feet in front of Isabella who was in the server's position.

Game. Set. Match. And a whole lot of what ifs, and should've would've and could'ves.

The only real positive to come out of the game was Annika, who willed the team to a victory in the first set and almost did the same in the second. The girls were down several points until Annika started finding her groove from the serving line. She single handedly put the girls over the top in set one and almost did the same in set two.

This was by far the most frustrating and disappointing loss of the season for these girls. Every game they have lost this season has been in three sets, but this one is going to sting.

They'll need to put this game behind them quick because the next two games could decide their playoff fate.

Yes, the girls have come a long way since the first game of the year, but the potential to do so much more is there, which makes a performance like this ever so much more harder to swallow.

The 5th/6th grade won the first set 26-24, and dropped the second one 25-22. They had previously beaten the team they played Saturday in their previous meeting.