STARKVILLE — Senior Night for Starkville Academy was a bit smaller this year than in recent years.

The Volunteers honored their lone senior, defender Ella Grace McLendon, Thursday night, a player that head coach Chris Doss said was wise and mature beyond her years. McLendon and  her backline teammates were very busy as they faced off against the district champs, Lamar School.

The Vols had one of their best performances of an otherwise disappointing season, playing to a 1-1 draw against the Raiders.

“In the first game we played them, their No. 8 was pulling the strings of everything, but tonight, I think we did a really good job of making her go missing defensively,” Doss said. “We were really well-organized and cut off the supply to the midfield which meant she wasn’t able to pull the strings like she did.”

Starkville Academy (1-9-1) held the lead for a good portion of the match, taking the lead in the 23rd minute off a long strike from junior Summer Evans.

Evans had the opportunity in front of her to make things happen, took it, and capitalized as the Vols, who had built momentum in the first half, took a 1-0 lead into the break.

“I knew that we needed to score,” Evans said. “I was about to pass it off, but I just saw the opportunity. All my teammates told me to just take the shot and I don’t usually do that, but I decided to cut in and take it.”

Unfortunately, that lead held for all of seven minutes in the second half as Lamar School equalized on a penalty conceded by the Vols.

While it was certainly a blow to team morale, the fact that Starkville Academy had even gotten to this point against a high-octane team like the Raiders was an achievement in itself.

Things went back-and-forth in the final 30 minutes or so of the match, with neither team gaining an edge, and the score stayed tied at 1-1 through regulation. The teams mutually agreed to end the match there instead of playing any extra time.

Doss and Vols will look to build on Thursday’s strong performance as they approach the offseason.

“I think it shows resilience and good character from the team,” Doss said. “We’re not playing for anything at this point, but to come out and perform like that against the top of the district, a team that’s beaten Heritage [Academy] twice, says a lot about the attitude and the way we approach games. We showed up tonight.”