Having gone to a third-set tiebreaker twice before, Fulton Lady Hornets head volleyball coach Megan Youse usually has a set speech she likes to give her players heading into the decisive game.
But having just lost 25-10 in the second contest to the Fatima Lady Comets, Youse changed up the tone of her pep talk before sending the Lady Hornets back out on the floor.
"Typically I tell them, "I know how you guys love volleyball and now you get to play an extra game,'" Youse said. "But this time I told them that the first game they came out ready to play and played to win. In the second game, and we're notorious for letting down in the second game, we started playing not to lose.
"We talked about getting back to basics. ..."
Fatima, though, bested Fulton in the final set, securing the victory Tuesday night at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium. The Lady Hornets took the opening game 25-20, but then succumbed to the Lady Comets 25-10 and 25-22 in the last two sets.
After dropping the first game, Fatima (11-2-1) cruised to its second-set win on the heels of a 22-8 scoring run. Fulton (8-6) cashed in on eight unforced errors by the Lady Comets in the first game, but then found itself on the unfortunate end of the miscues the next time around.