A strong service game by Ridgeland had the Warren Central Lady Vikes out of sorts in Tuesday’s non-division match at WC.

The Lady Titans converted on the majority of their serves either by ace or return error to defeat Warren Central 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20). The Lady Vikes’ record dropped to 7-6 going into Thursday’s home match against Division 2-6A foe Jim Hill.

Ridgeland improved to 7-7.

WC coach Greg Head credited Ridgeland’s strong service game, not a week of missed practice time caused by Tropical Storm Issac, as the reason behind his team’s spotty play.

“We finally faced a team that serves hard, but it wasn’t the first serve that hurt us. It was the second and third hits,” Head said. “We showed our lack of experience in handling those types of hits.”

The lack of practice time, however, did have some effect.

“We had to move some people around today because we had some miss practice,” Head said. “We need to have the consistency of having everybody here.”

Ridgeland had 12 aces in the match and Lady Titans coach Wade Hawkins said the service game is the team’s strength.

“We did a good job with it today,” Hawkins said. “We also did well with our return serves. Usually, that’s been our weakness.”

Warren Central played Ridgeland on even terms through the first part of the opening set. Two kills and a block at the net by Taylor Willis tied the score at 12. Ridgeland rallied, getting four straight points off WC errors and then an ace from Kaelyn Edwards to take a commanding 17-12 edge. Three service points from Sara Clifton and an ace from Erin Simmons closed out the set for Ridgeland.

The Lady Vikes fell behind early in the second set and trailed 19-12 at one point. DeUna Myers got it going and helped string together a 5-0 rally to narrow the gap to 19-17 with a kill and two aces.

A kill at the net by Ridgeland’s Thames Kennedy stopped the WC rally. Two straight errors by WC helped give the Lady Titans a two-set lead.

Hannah Gore helped WC stay close in the third set with four points, but Ridgeland again stemmed the tide with a string of points from Clifton and Edwards. A kill by Clifton put Ridgeland within match point and it ended on Warren Central’s 20th error.

Clifton led Ridgeland with 16 points off five aces, two kills and a block. Edwards had 14 points, including five aces.

Willis paced the Lady Vikes with 10 points, including three kills and two blocks. Brooke Kistler had nine points while Myers had seven.