Girls get sweep over Olney on Tuesday
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions volleyball team upped its record to 5-3 Tuesday, Aug. 16 with a sweep of Olney. Albany won on its home floor, defeating the Lady Cubs 25-14, 25-12, 25-15.
The local girls will have a rematch with Eastland on Friday, starting with the varsity in the AHS gym at 4:00 p.m.
“Our team really came together in the Olney match on Tuesday,” Lady Lions coach M.J. Reneau said. “Our serve receive has come a long way in the last two weeks, and we passed well this game. When we take care of free balls and those opportunities the other team gives us, we are able to build momentum and have a great offense.”
Through eight matches, Kiana Roberson leads the Lady Lions with 34 kills. Caroline Holson has been the leading server with 56 points. Abi Hale has recorded 77 assists at setter. Libero Robin Lucas has a team-high 42 digs.
The Lady Lions opened the season Tuesday, Aug. 9 with a four-set loss to Breckenridge at home, falling 25-22, 21-25, 16-25, 21-25. It was the third time in five days Albany had taken the floor against the Lady Buckaroos, having scrimmaged twice over the previous weekend.
“I felt like that match was a really good start for our girls,” Reneau said. “We saw things we really need to work on, but we’re so close to where we want to be already.”
The Lady Lions hosted the Albany Summer Slam tournament Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 11-13, finishing fourth after sweeping their pool.
On Thursday, Albany defeated De Leon 25-12, 25-8, Rotan 25-12, 25-18, and Eastland 25-18, 25-22.
“We responded to the opening loss by having a good day of pool play,” Reneau said. “I felt we really came together and had a lot of good chemistry.”
On Saturday, Albany opened bracket play by beating the Jim Ned JV 25-12, 25-12. That was followed by a 16-25, 10-25 loss to Abilene Christian in the semifinals and a 23-25, 23-25 loss to Eastland in the third-place match.
“It was a long weekend,” Reneau said. “I felt that we needed to pass more in our last game, but it doesn’t get any closer than that. The teams that we lost to are very respectable teams.”
In the rematch with Eastland, Albany held the lead in each set before the Lady Mavs grabbed the momentum. Albany challenged late, but Eastland eventually got the win in the closely-played game.
Reneau said repeated matches with Breckenridge and Eastland give her a consistent measure of the Lady Lions’ progress.
“It helps us to practice making adjustments on defense,” she said. “We did that really well against Eastland the first time, but I just felt like we didn’t attack enough the second time. Overall, I’m proud of our girls. I thought they did a great job over the weekend.”
Junior Varsity
Albany’s junior varsity teams both improved to 2-3 Tuesday, Aug. 16 by beating Olney.
The JV1 opened the season last week with a 20-25, 15-25 loss to Breckenridge. At the Summer Slam, JV1 beat De Leon 25-11, 25-13 before falling to Eastland 14-25, 15-25, and Knox City 17-25, 25-23, 9-15. The Lady Lions beat Olney 25-5, 25-17.
The JV2 won its opener against Breckenridge 22-25, 29-27, 25-22. At the Summer Slam, the girls lost to Coleman 22-25, 25-17, 12-15, then lost 20-25, 13-25 to Clyde and 13-25, 25-17, 14-16 to Eastland. The match against Olney was the team’s fourth three-setter in five outings, a 25-19, 18-25, 25-22 victory.
JV coach Jamie Wilson said both teams have made steady improvement despite a tough start.
“With limited numbers, every player is getting a ton of playing time, which is great,” Wilson said. “We have gotten to play some tough teams, which has made us realize what we need to work on and keeps us getting better. I am so excited to see how good these girls become throughout the season.”
