"It's an illegal action so the refs would have blown their whistles and awarded a point to the other team," says the 2014-16 outside hitter for the AUT side in the top women's league in Auckland.
Tucker-Low had taken the "you-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about" and "who-do-you-think-you-are" rebuff on the chin and left.
It wasn't until someone dropped into the real estate office late last year to talk about the HGHS team and asked if she was interested in coaching them that she gave it another serious thought.
"I'm religious so I believe it was God's way of showing me that these girls are a bunch he wants me to work with," says last year's paid coach, who is volunteering her services this year.
During her interview with HGHS she said she would only assume the mantle if the school supported her principles, such as "no train, no play" and other guidelines on punctuality and behaviour.
The team, comprising eight Samoans, a Maori and a Fijian, are rich in culture and tradition so Tucker-Low is excited by the prospect of sharing those values.
Helping build character is a cornerstone for the coach, a former Iona College pupil, who isn't wanting any sort of reimbursement.
"It's for me to enjoy it and also to give something back in a way."
When Tucker-Low started mentoring last month she discovered some of the players were, understandably, "quite stand-offish" after last year's experience.
It didn't help her cause after she blew the whistle to draw attention to the illegal setting and carry move on the court.
"I asked, 'Put up your hand up if you remember me from last year?', and four or five them did."
Tucker-Low cautioned the players that if they did that again they would be subjected to 10 "burpees" and two "court suicides" (shuttle runs).
But she broke the ice a fortnight later when she played Destiny's Child's When Jesus Says Yes and asked them to perform a 10-second "dance battle" before training sessions.
"They started laughing and it just changed the mood of the way they saw me because they probably saw me as someone who was kind of strict for two to three sessions."
Now it's her favourite time of the week — two hours on Tuesday nights, two games on Wednesday nights, two hours training Thursday nights — when she relishes watching them blossom not just as athletes but people.
"We're like family now," she says. They finished third at a Bay tourney last weekend, behind winners Napier Girls' High School and Havelock North High School, but the schoolgirls' trust in Tucker-Low had crystalised. That became a defining moment because it was HGHS' first loss under her tutelage.
"We came together in that final day against Sacred Heart and it was a pretty good time to kind of prove to me that they are willing to fight for each other and the hard work we had put in during the week."
Another sign of commitment was the willingness to attend trainings at other schools while HGHS' main gym is undergoing reconstruction work.
Until this week they were training in the school's "small gym", devoid of a net, or outdoors when the weather has been fine.
Tucker-Low approached her boss, Simon Tremain, to sponsor the team and he obliged to help them embark on the quest to claim a berth in the first division of the nationals.
Her mother, Cheri Low, pitched in for the remainder of the funds which, combined with the school's budgetary allocation, helped buy personalised warm-up tops and hoodies last month.
"Mum's got a good heart and she's coming to the nationals with us to help so I call her 'mum-ager'."
Tomorrow the HGHS team will reciprocate by helping out the Tremains Triathlon as volunteers.
Players Fesotainga Valoanga and Emmaleigh Alainu'uese have noticed dramatic changes not only in their individual games but their senior team since Tucker-Low took over.
"My passing wasn't so good last year but now it's good because of the coach," says Valoanga, a year 12 pupil.
The 16-year-old libero (pass setter) says Tucker-Low impresses the need to keep a low-gravity crouching position with one's hands up in anticipation of the ball coming.
Valoanga, the vice-captain, says punctuality also has become a key issue.
"Last year we could come late and there were no issues but now we're learning to come well before training time otherwise you have to do court suicide runs," she says, adding the enjoyment factor is higher.
Valoanga says her mother, Maila, also remarks on that sense of growing responsibility at home.
"Our team is now bonding better and we lift each other and play for each other.
"Poppi is very different and treats us like a family member."
Alainu'uese, 16, is an outside hitter and in her third year in the senior team. Her sister, Fa'alangi Alainu'uese, 20, a former HGHS pupil, helped them train last year.
"Our fitness has probably helped us a lot because last year we just went straight into playing volleyball," says the teenager.
Alainu'uese says while it is more serious this year they also have more fun and the results are better.
She notices her time management at school and home has improved dramatically.
"I always used to come to school late but ever since Poppi's helped I'm always early."
