Closing Thursday’s match proved difficult for Mexico on Thursday night.

The No. 3 seed Lady Bulldogs had match point in their Class 3 District 7 Tournament match against No. 6 Bowling Green in Hallsville after Mary Test picked up a service ace. Mexico hit some shots out of bounds for Bowling Green to take the fourth set and eventually win the fifth set to eliminate the Lady Bulldogs (24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 24-26 and 6-15).

Mexico’s six seniors had fine farewell performances as outside hitter Jessica Stephens led the team with her 21 kills and finished with a double-double by tallying 28 digs. Libero Tessa Haefling had a team-high 31 digs, and two others finished with at least 20 digs and three had at least 10 for a season-high total of 141 digs. Opposite hitter Ali Walotka had 22 digs, outside hitter Aleigha Jackson had 15 digs, setter Ally Wilson had 14 digs to go with her team-high 21 assists and opposite hitter Capri’Ona Fountain finished with 11 digs and a block.

Mexico vs Bowling Green Photo Gallery

Head coach Mendie Tutt said Mexico (8-15-1) has mentally struggled at times to close matches this season, which is what happened Thursday.

“We force things that don’t need to be forced,” Tutt said. “Pushing balls, hitting too hard, hitting not hard enough, and not putting things away.”

Mexico let the first set get away despite having a set point with a 24-23 lead as it did in the fourth set. Bowling Green (9-11-4) took advantage of two missed blocks by the Lady Bulldogs prior to closing the set with an ace.

Bowling Green was ahead 18-14 in the fourth set after recording its third ace of the set. After that, outside hitter Emily Moppin had a kill as part of an 8-2 Mexico run that gave the opportunity for a match point. The serve hit the net and a couple of the Lady Bulldogs’ hits went out of bounds to force a fifth set.

In the fifth set, Bowling Green took seven straight points early before Mexico drew as close as 9-6. A Stephens spike was ruled just outside the line, and the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t muster much solid offense after that to give the Lady Bobcats revenge for Mexico sweeping them in the previous meeting this year.

Tutt said there was much “back-and-forth” up to that point over a five-set match so energy being drained is a concern. Bowling Green’s front court was also stout as Mexico was blocked several times in its losing sets, and Fountain and freshman middle blocker JacLynn Cline were formidable in the second and third sets. Cline especially stepped up in the middle of the match, finishing seven kills, a team-high four service aces and a block, but Tutt acknowledged more work would need to be done next season.

“(Cline) is a freshman so she is still learning how to play that game,” Tutt said. “She’s a force to be reckoned with when she’s on, and she was on in the middle of the match.”

With this season at an end, Tutt said Mexico did improve in areas after implementing a system that focuses partly on defending the middle of the court.

The Lady Bulldogs’ defense came to play Thursday but just didn’t always execute following those digs, Tutt said, as her players need to put shots away rather than “taking it easy.”

“Defense is something we have definitely worked on throughout the years because that’s something we’ve been weak at,” Tutt said. “That’s one of the things with this new system. Defense is part of that.”

Tutt said it will be difficult to fill six holes in Mexico’s team for all of the departing seniors. She said Stephens will be “greatly missed because she plays all the way around,” and “Ally Wilson is able to “push that ball anywhere on the court.” This year was Haefling’s first season at libero, Tutt said, because she was a “better reader” and could reach “every single ball,” and Walotka was also collecting the digs in the back row. Those pieces on top of the size of Fountain and utility of Jackson will make for a tough adjustment at least early next season, Tutt said.

“It’s just a lot of holes we’ll have to fill for sure,” Tutt said.