Lady Roaders hold off stubborn Riverside bunch
By George Starks

BRADFORD- After winning the opening two games, beating Riverside 25-22 , 25-20, Bradford went into the third game looking to make a clean sweep of things.

The Lady Pirates had other ideas.

After losing the third game25-17, the Roaders bounced back to take the fourth game, 25-22.

So what happened in game three?

“I put in some players I had never played before,” said Bradford coach Jamie Hocker. “It’s been a while since these girls had actually played and I wanted to give them a chance to get in a see what they could do.”

After winning the opening two games, BRiverside jumped on Bradford in the third, taking a commanding 10-1 lead.
Hocker never deviated from the lineup.

“I never once thought about going back to my original starters,” said Hocker. “I know the girls I started in that third game has what it takes and could pull it off. I want them to know they can do it.”

Trailing by as much as 14-3 early, Bradford was able to mount a comeback, closing to 21-16 before the Priates were able to finish things off.

Game four was a bit of a re-peat to the third as the Roaders trailed 17-12 at one point.

Then the Roaders found new life, going on a 10-5 run to gain a 22-22 tie before closing things out.

“It made me feel good that we were able to mount the comeback the way we did,” Hocker admitted of herself. “We’ve got some good servers and they know what needs to be done. We had some hard hits but we just need to stay focused.”

“We found a little life and that’s all we need,” said Hocker. “The hardest thing for these girls to do is stay up mentally and that’s basically all I’ve been trying to coach this year. They’ve got the talent and fundamentals. All I’ve been trying to coach is the mental aspect of the game.”

Even in winning and going to 2-2 on the season, the Roaders lost focus on several occasions.

“We did lose focus at times,” said Hocker. “They got down on themselves and lost focus on what they know they can do. They need to stay focused on the basic fundamentals.”

With only one more point needed by Bradford to win the match, Riverside called two time-outs but Hocker had just one message for her team.
“I told them to just stay focused and keep doing what you’re doing,” stated Hocker. “I told them what they were doing was working and just stay focused. The time-outs are called to break momentum and for us to miss our serves. We didn’t allow that to happen in the last game. That was the difference maker for us.”

The Bradford junior varsity won in two straight, 25-8, 25-9.

Bradford, 2-2, will host Twin Valley South Thursday in a Cross County Conference match.