LEMOORE - When things looked like they weren't going to go Lemoore's way, the Tigers left the gymnasium for a quick pick-me-up during their Central Section Division II quarterfinal game against Yosemite.

Yosemite was busy digging out of a two set deficit to force a fifth game.

The Badgers did force that fifth set, but it was all Lemoore from that point on.

Lemoore jumped out early in the fifth set and were able to outlast a pesky Badgers volleyball team 25-23, 29-27, 21-25, 21-25, 15-7.

"We weren't ready for our season to be over," said Lemoore head coach Kim Rix. "The girls had worked too hard all year for their season to be over in the second round of the playoffs."

The Tigers jumped out to a 11-3 lead in the deciding set, including six points from middle blocker Kathleen Anderson.

"When we left, we just kind of refocused," Anderson said. "We knew we had to get it going. When we came back, it was like we were a different team."

Lemoore, the No. 4 seed, moved on to Tuesday's semifinal. The Tigers will play at top-seeded Frontier (Bakersfield), which beat Sanger in three games Thursday night.

Yosemite, the No. 11 seed, made the quarterfinals by upsetting No. 5 Golden West.

The Badgers were down two sets in that match before coming from behind.

The Tigers though wouldn't be upset victim No. 2.

But it couldn't have been any closer in the first two sets.

It was tied at 23-23 before Lemoore, the tournament's No. 2 seed, finished off scoring the final two points. Yosemite was called for a player hitting the ball twice in a row then Kathleen Anderson finished it off with a kill at the net.

In the second set, the Tigers faced match point, being down 27-26.

But Lemoore scored the final three points with Yosemite serving into the net, Anderson tipping a block up in the air, then finishing it off with a kill and with a Badger's player touching the net.

That's when Yosemite made the comeback.

The Badgers jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the fourth to climb within a set.

Lemoore led in the fourth at 11-9, but Yosemite scored seven of the next eight points to take charge of the fourth.

Down 22-16, Lemoore called a timeout.

That's when the Tigers left the building.

"It's scary since when you win the first two, the other team goes into the fifth with momentum," Rix said. "The girls stepped it up though."

Lemoore couldn't climb out of the hole in the fourth, but did outscore Yosemite 5-3 from that point.

And then took care of it in the fifth.

For the Tigers, Anderson finished with 24 kills. Tiffany Webb had 55 assists and 11 digs.

Jessica Sullivan had 10 kills.

Kaitlyn Henderson, Beighly Ramirez and Caitlan Brassart had 25, 35 and 10 digs respectively.

Lauren Lewis had 8 kills while Bridget Billingsley added 7 kills.

(Nov. 13, 2009)