Rusk senior Faith Long (2) prepares to serve the ball in a match against Palestine on Tuesday. The Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Wildcats for their first district match at home.

The Rusk Lady Eagles defeated the Palestine Lady Wildcats 25-21, 28-26, 25-23 in their first district match on Tuesday.

The match started out on even ground, but the Eagles picked up the pace before the first set ended.

“The girls came out quiet and moved a little slow, but they quickly cleaned it up and started making great plays,” said head coach Tonya Kelly. “We have a tough district with a lot of good teams; therefore tonight’s win was big. I’m very proud of the girls for playing tough and fighting until the end.”

Kaycee Johnson led the team with 19 kills and 7 blocks, Makenna Burhalter was our top scorer, with 8 points and played great on the back row with 12 digs, Faith Long had 7 kills and was the assist leader with 18, Hadley Kelly had 6 kills and hustled to pick up 11 digs, Isabel Torres had a good game with 16 assists.

“The girls played great tonight. We needed to get off a few more plays than we did, but their overall performance was stellar,” said Kelly.