Miles remained winless with a loss to Shorter (25-12, 25-16, 25-13) Tuesday night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium in the Lady Bears' home opener. But the progress the young team is making was evident, especially compared its performance against the Lady Hawks two weeks ago.

The hitting percentage was more than 200 points higher. There were more kills and less errors. The Lady Bears even held the lead early during the second and third games. It was not enough to earn a victory, but the individual performances from a roster that features just two returners - and one senior - are starting to build momentum towards a winning product.

The Lady Bears were dominated early. Errors on five of the first eight points were a big part in Shorter opening a 13-3 lead in the opening set. Miles never got closer than nine points the rest of the way and offered little resistance in dropping the opening set. But in Set 2, the team started to show signs of life.

A kill by Kayla Trawick (4-4-16, one block, five digs) and a service ace by Aaliyah Sanders (11 digs) gave the Lady Bears an 8-7 lead. The Lady Hawks went back in front but Kandace Griffin was part of two combo blocks - one with Jadyn McGhee and the other with Zion Williams - that closed the game to 13-11. But Shorter was able to slowly pull away and back-to-back attack errors by Miles helped close out the middle frame.

Saraih Taylor (10 assists, two digs) had a service ace, then set up Kendall Townsend to give Miles an early 4-2 lead in the final set. A kill by Trawick and a combo block by Trawick and Williams gave the Lady Bears an 7-6 advantage. But 10 straight points as part of a 13-1 run put the final set out of reach. The team seemed to run out of gas, making as many attack errors in the final set as they did in the first two combined.

Townsend was the team's top hitter (8-4-17, .235) while McGhee, Williams, and Griffin each had two blocks during the contest for Miles, which is back in action on Monday when it hosts Talladega. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.