TUPPER LAKE – The Tupper Lake volleyball team lost three straight games to Chateaugay Thursday evening, but coach Diane Helms couldn’t have been happier with the way her girls played.

“Chateaugay is generally number one in our division and they come out every year strong, and we held our own against them,” Helms said after the match. “They (Tupper) were scrappy and they’re moving and trying and they’re nice to each other. And that’s half the battle.

“I can’t ask more than that.”

Tupper started out struggling against Chateaugay’s serving prowess. After dropping quite a few points off the bat, the Lumberjacks rebounded to bring about several long rallies that were often kept alive through diving gets. Tupper Lake sophomore Kayley LaPierre made a diving save to keep the ball alive for Tupper halfway through the first game.

Hanah Lanthier dived to the sideline to keep the ball in the air for another Tupper point before the end of the game, which the Lumberjacks dropped 25 to 14.

While Chateaugay’s serving stayed strong to start the second game, Tupper Lake managed to take the lead for the first and only time of the night on a serve by junior Madison Kentile. Chateaugay soon regained the lead, but Tupper showed flashes of brilliance around the court.

Senior Emma Dubey displayed impressive reflexes keeping a ball that hit the net and snuck over to the Tupper side alive for another Lumberjack point midway through the second game.

Dubey followed up that effort a few minutes later with a rocket serve that was returned out of bounds. Tupper continued the pressure through the second, holding off the loss while Chateaugay was stuck with 24 on the score board.

The Lumberjack servers kept getting the better of the Bulldogs, coming back to within five before dropping the game 25-19.

Chateaugay’s Savannah Fiorino started the third game strong, taking six straight points on the serve in what proved to be the final game of the match. Valerie Titus snuck another ball over the net to put the Bulldogs up 8-1 early in the game.

Tupper senior Hannah Berg came up with a huge block and rebounded to get the ball over the net for a point. But Chateaugay’s Grace Harrigan took over on the serve to score three straight points before giving the ball back to Tupper with a serve that went wide right.

Berg again came up big to score a pair of points for the Lumberjacks before Chateaugay put away the match with a 25-19 win in the third game.

Berg, Lanthier, Kentile and LaPierre each earned a point and an ace in the match. Junior Rebecca Delair earned eight points with three aces and four kills.

“We did some nice things. I was happy with the way we passed the ball,” Chateaugay coach Chris Reynolds said after the match. “We need to serve consistently like we did tonight. We kept pressure on them with the serve.”

Helms said the team is starting to benefit from familiarity with each other, and said the young Lumberjacks will only get better as the season continues.