Posted: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:49 AM - 8,352 Readers
By: Tyler Mayforth
If there were two more evenly-matched teams, they should have been on the court with San Marcos and Hays.
The Lady Rattlers and Lady Rebels put on a clinic Tuesday night of back-and-forth volleyball. Neither team would allow the other to break open a set without the other playing piggyback and getting back into it.
San Marcos seemed poised to finally clear the Hays hurdle, but fell short. The Lady Rebels took the Lady Rattlers’ legs from them, winning 3-1.
“It was nice for us to take that first set, but it would have been nicer to win a few more,” San Marcos head coach Michelle Moreno said. “Whenever we were ready to get ahead, it seemed like we either had an error or a miss-hit.”
The Lady Rattlers proved a lot to themselves in winning the first set Tuesday night.
San Marcos went into Oran Bales Gymnasium and wasn’t scared of Hays. The Lady Rattlers jumped out to a 12-7 lead behind strong play from Maggie Breed and Birdie Schneider.
After the Lady Rebels tied it back up at 23, the teams see-sawed with the lead until the San Marcos ultimately took the set, 28-26. The Lady Rattlers went into the break fired up and put Hays on its heels.
“I was really surprised how hard San Marcos came out to play tonight,” Lady Rebel head coach Erica Walther said. “You always assume it’s going to be tough in district, but they were really scrappy on defense.”
San Marcos opened up a 13-6 lead in the second set, forcing Walther to call timeout and then continued to apply pressure, leading 18-13. If the Lady Rattlers were going to break Hays’ spirit it would have been at that moment.
The Lady Rebels wouldn’t be denied the second set, as they went on a 10-5 run to tie the game at 23 and won the final two points.
“I’m really proud of how my girls fought tonight,” Walther said. “It could have been a backbreaker to lose the first and second set.”
Hays seemed to use the momentum from the second set to buoy it in the third.
The Lady Rebels denied San Marcos’ hitters at the net and kept the Lady Rattlers at bay. Hays’ Krista Koopmann and Emily Clark paved the way for the hosts.
“Our blockers really neutralized their hitters,” Walther said. “It’s nothing you can really coach, they just need to get out there and use their instincts.”
The Lady Rebels won the third set (25-20), which featured seven ties. Hays was able to pull away when the score was locked at 18 with a 4-0 run.
San Marcos knew going into the fourth set if it didn’t win, it would fall to 1-2 in District 17-4A play. The Lady Rattlers played with a sense of urgency, but the Lady Rebels broke their spirit.
Hays went on two runs (8-1 and 7-4) to close out San Marcos. The Lady Rebels won the fourth and final set, 25-19.
“It was great for us to get one of these games out early,” Moreno said. “We knew it was going to be tough to come in here and pull it out, but now we have them coming back to our place in the second half.”
Hays improved to 4-0 in District 17-4A action and evened its overall record at 16-16.
Breed led the Lady Rattlers with 18 kills, while Jordan Carswell had 20 assists. Schneider’s 31 digs were a game-high, while Delaney Hearne added four aces to go with three blocks.
Kaylea Beck had 16 kills for the Lady Rebels, as Melisa Butler contributed 38 assists. Koopmann had six blocks and four aces.
All three of San Marcos’ sub-varsity teams (freshman A and B and junior varsity) lost in three sets.
In other District 17-4A action — Lockhart topped Manor in four games, and Elgin remained tied for first place with a sweep over Del Valle.
Texans win on the road
PFLUGERVILLE — The Wimberley Lady Texans got back on the winning track Tuesday night, sweeping past Class 4A Pflugerville-Hendrickson (25-17, 25-22, 25-19) in a non-district volleyball match.
It was a good win for the Lady Texans, considering their leading hitter Laura Blab was sidelined from the game.
Instead senior Audrey Keith along with juniors Ashley Lyles and Lea Watson led the way for Wimberley.
Keith led the offense with seven kills, and played a big role in the defense with 13 digs. Lyles contributed five kills and 12 digs while serving up an ace. Watson also had five kills and led the team with three aces.
Leading the offense was junior setter Shauna Miller, who recorded 17 assists in the win.
Molly Ahrens led the Lady Hawks with 12 digs while Tara Shackleford was Hendrickson’s top defender with 15 digs.
The Lady Texans (18-12) open District 8-3A play Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. home game against Bandera.
Lehman continues to struggle
KYLE — The Lehman Lobos had a tough time against a strong team from Lake Travis Tuesday night, suffering a 25-7, 25-6 and 25-12 loss to the Lady Cavaliers.
Ariel Gonzalez led the Lady Lobos with four kills, Vikki Smith had six assists, Felina Ortiz came through with eight digs and Imani Fairman served an ace.
Lehman fell to 4-16 overall while Lake Travis upped its record to 30-3.
Lehman is back in action Friday night with a 7 p.m. game at Manor.
