Girls win district opener
After opening the district race with a win on the road on Saturday, the Lady Lion volleyball team lost their second league game on Tuesday against the visiting Newcastle Lady Bobcats.
The District 6-2A race will continue Saturday in Hawley against the Lady Bearcats. JV games will start the action at 10:00 a.m., with the varsity teams taking the court at 12:00 noon.
Albany has a bye next Tuesday, returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 22 to host Moran.
Albany lost to Newcastle in three sets 15-25, 26-28, 22-25 on Tuesday. Complete results will be reported next week.
The Lady Lions closed out their pre-district portion of the schedule with a win over Bangs 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 on Sept. 4.
“The day before the Bangs game, we found ourselves making adjustments to cover losing our setter,” coach Kimberly Hill said. “In any sport, when a key player goes down, it impacts both offense and defense.”
Starting setter Torie Fuentes was injured and unable to start either game last week.
“I moved a couple of JV players up and rearranged positions and had to put in a new offense,” the coach said. “I’m very proud of how hard the girls played and how they responded to the adjustments to beat Bangs in straight sets on their home court.”
The coach called the win just the boost the team needed to start district.
Junior Taylor Scott was moved to setter, with Clara Holson coming up from JV as the backup.
“We played some really close sets to get the win, and to be able to hang in there was a great feeling for the team,” said Hill.
albany VS. Bangs
PLAYER Serves Kills Digs Blks Passes Asst
B Belcher 7 0 6 0 1 0
C Holson 12 0 7 0 0 11
A Hill 6 7 19 0 11 0
A Garcia 4 4 11 0 1 0
H Trail 0 7 0 1 0 0
A Balliew 7 0 6 0 1 0
A Denton 0 3 4 0 4 0
M Connally 11 8 9 0 2 0
T Scott 13 4 10 0 7 15
Albany opened district with an easier victory, winning in Strawn 25-13, 25-23, 25-6.
“We started the first set strong, served and passed pretty well, but then fell asleep in the second set,” Hill said. “It was much closer than it should have been, with a lot of unforced errors. After little verbal motivation, the girls played a solid third set.”
The coach noted that Mady Connally served 14 straight points to open up the third set.
“In order to keep Mady serving, the rest of the team had to play well,” she said. “I was pleased with their effort and happy to start district with a win on the road.”
albany VS. strawn
PLAYER Serves Kills Digs Blks Passes Asst
B Belcher 6 0 2 0 0 0
C Holson 4 4 2 0 0 13
A Hill 4 5 8 1 2 0
A Garcia 13 2 8 0 6 0
H Trail 0 6 2 0 0 0
A Balliew 5 0 6 0 6 0
M Connally 28 4 8 0 9 0
T Scott 5 8 3 0 2 12
S Cotter 0 4 2 0 0 0
JV Records Wins
The JV Red team won in three sets in Bangs last week, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20.
“We had lots of long rallies, lots of battling and hard work,” coach Lauren Peacock said. “This group amazes me with their heart. We had a totally different rotation after we lost a couple of players to varsity.”
She said the team didn’t have time to practice the new rotation, but picked it up quickly for the win.
The JV White team won 25-18, 25-7 in Bangs.
“We were a little sloppy in the first set,” she said. “Our serve-receive was rocky and we didn’t look like we usually do. But we pulled it out and the girls never gave up.”
The coach said the second set went much easier.
“We took care of business better in the second set,” Peacock said. “We dominated and really picked it up. I’m very proud of their commitment and effort.”
The JV teams were off on Saturday since Strawn only has a varsity team.
