Blairsville, Ga. – Despite stand-out efforts from several players, the Union County High volleyball team lost to Pickens County, 3-0, Tuesday night in Blairsville.

After dropping the first game of the match 25-18, the Lady Panthers (3-8) rallied in the second game to give themselves game-point five different times, but couldn’t close the game and fell in a marathon, 31-29.

Coach Megan Swanson said after the match that the tough loss in the second game led to the disappointing, 25-13 loss in the third.

“(The second game) drained us emotionally, physically, and mentally. We lost the momentum we had built in the second game and just couldn’t get it back,” Swanson said.

The first game opened neck-and-neck, with 13 lead changes before the Dragonettes (4-15) took over for good at 14-13.

Senior Adelia Pyle had two kills in the game and sophomore Riley Allison added another, but the Lady Panthers couldn’t overcome a five-point streak and back-to-back four-points streaks from the Dragonettes to close out the game.

Game two looked to be moving in the same direction, with Pickens County building a 22-15 lead after several lead changes early, but six-straight points from Union County drew them within one at 22-21. The run was sparked by two big kills from Allison.

The lead changed hands another five times before the Dragonettes were able to close it out.

“(Pickens) is a good team. They were strong. They didn’t make many errors, and we just made more,” Swanson said. “They are one of the tougher teams we’ll see this year and I felt like we battled them pretty well through those first two games of the match.”

Pyle and Allison finished the night with seven kills each, while freshman Saylor Noe added a kill, and sophomore Morgan Fussell pitched in with a block.

Across the backline, the defense was anchored by senior libero Izzy Zamora.

Up next for Union County is a quad-match with East Hall, Johnson, and Eastside beginning at 5 p.m., Thursday, August 29, in Gainesville.

The Lady Panthers do not open play in Area 8-AA/A until September 24, when they host Oglethorpe County and Washington-Wilkes.