PORT NECHES — The Port Neches-Groves Lady Indians came-from-behind to beat the Nederland Lady Bulldogs in Game 1, squeezed out Game 2 and then rolled to a win in Game 3 to complete the sweep on Tuesday night in District 20-4A volleyball action.

With the win, the Lady Tribe improves to 18-8 overall and 4-2 in league play while Nederland falls to 10-13 overall and 1-4 in district.

Both teams will be back in action on Thursday night. Rock-A-Noos, which also swept Nederland in the team's first meeting, will host Lumberton while the Lady Bulldogs will meet Livingston in Nederland.

The Mid-County matchup was mostly decided with Game 1 where Nederland controlled the lead for most of the way. The Lady Dogs led by as much as five at two points in the first contest but the Lady Tribe would not roll over.

Trailing 10-5, PN-G came back to take a 11-10 lead before Nederland surged with a 5-0 run, taking command with a 15-11 advantage. The teams swapt points back and forth until the Lady Indians rallied with the score 20-16 in Nederland's favor. At that point, PN-G scored four of the next six points, forcing the Lady Dogs to a timeout.

Nederland had no answer, however, as PN-G scored four of the final five points to claim a 25-23 victory in Game 1.

Mallory Livingston and Alexis Smithy combined for four aces in Game 1. Lady Indians head coach Barbara Comeaux said her squad's ability to make good serves in that first game was what made the difference.

"We've changed some things up in our lineup," Comeaux said. "Those changes are still new to the team and they are still adapting. I think they still have some doubts about what we're doing. I think that's part of the reason we were struggling in the first game but we served the ball well and hung in there against a good team. Nederland plays good defense."

After Nederland saw Game 1 slip away, head coach Toni Leach said her Lady Dogs lost their confidence and did not fight in the final two games of the match where PN-G won 25-22 and 25-16.

To Nederland's credit, the Lady Dogs kept it close, even scored three straight points to cut the game to 13-13 before the Tribe ran away with Game 2. Rock-A-Noos went on a 7-1 run to break things open in Game 2, putting Nederland down 20-14. The Lady Dogs would muscle up for two small runs to cut the game back to 23-22 but PN-G closed the game out by scoring the final two points.

"We haven't learned to close games out," Leach said. "We played well in the first game and had a things under control but we let them back in it and then lost it. Until we learn how to close games out, this is what's going to happen. We lack confidence right now and with that, when we start to struggle, we get frustrated and lose control.

"I think we just kind of quit tonight."

For the Lady Indians, Brandi Guidry led with 11 service points and 14 assists. Alexis Smithy finished with three aces. Lauryn Stephens had 10 kills, Chelsea Horn led with eight digs and had the game-winning spike in Game 1. Stephanie Bowman led with seven blocks.

Meanwhile, the Lady Dogs were led by Becca Waisath, who had 20 assists, five digs and six service points. Alicia Thevis had five kills, Alese Pinner led Nederland with eight blocks, Krista Mayer had six service points and six digs, Jeslyn Branick had eight digs and Jeanette Dorris and Layken Richard each had four service points.