Albany girls split tough 4-set matches

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady ­Lions capped off a 2-0 week Friday, Aug. 19 with a four-set victory against Eastland at home.

After sweeping Olney 25-14, 25-12, 25-15 on Tuesday, Aug. 16 the Lady Lions defeated Eastland 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19 on Friday.

Albany (6-4) lost to Bryson 24-26, 19-25, 25-18, 24-26  on Tuesday, Aug. 23 to wrap up its season-opening homestand. Details will be reported next week.

The Lady Lions will compete in the Aspermont tournament this weekend, playing pool matches on Thursday, Aug. 25 (today) before bracket play on Saturday, Aug. 27.

“We’re seeing improvement every single game, and that’s exactly what we want,” Lady Lions coach M.J. Reneau said. “We want to improve until we get to district and start peaking then.”

Against Olney, Kiana Roberson had 10 kills, while Abi Hale had 24 assists. Robin Lucas led Albany with 14 digs. Lucas also served seven aces with Caroline Holson adding six.

Against Eastland, Roberson and Holson each had 12 kills to lead the attack, with Hale recording 32 assists and six aces. Lucas had 19 digs and Roberson had 14.

After dropping the first set, Albany bounced back to even the match and kept the momentum in the final two sets.

“We made changes in our rotation every set,” Reneau said. “We went with what was working. It took every person on the team – they all got playing time and all contributed – so it was a great team effort.”

The Lady Lions took two of three meetings with Eastland in an eight-day span. Earlier, Albany faced Breckenridge three times in five days, two of them scrimmages.

Reneau said repeated meetings with the same opponents allows her to gauge the team’s progress during the early part of the season.

“Our serve receive was much better than the last time we played Eastland, and our attack improved,” she said. “The hitters are connecting with the setter better.”

Albany VS. OLNEY

PLAYER Serves Aces Kills Digs Blks Asst

R.Lucas 17 7 1 14 - -

G.Price 9 2 1 6 - -

C.Edgar - - - 2 - -

A.Hale 8 - 5 3 - 24

C.Chapman 7 2 5 1 1 -

C.Holson 17 6 6 1 1 -

K.Roberson 16 3 10 3 2 -

Albany VS. EASTLAND

PLAYER Serves Aces Kills Digs Blks Asst

R.Lucas 12 2 2 19 - -

G.Price 14 - 1 4 - -

C.Edgar - - 1 2 - -

E.Webb - - 3 3 - -

A.Hale 21 6 6 8 1 32

C.Chapman 9 - 1 5 - -

By.Abbate - - - 1 - -

C.Holson 20 3 12 3 1 -

K.Roberson 17 2 12 14 2 -

Junior Varsity

Albany split subvarsity matches against Eastland.

JV1 (2-4) dropped a 21-25, 22-25 decision.

“We saw some really great things from JV1 in this match,” coach Jamie Wilson said. “The girls showed lots of fight and did not roll over and give up. We may not have come out on top, but they are getting better every game.”

JV2 (3-3) pulled off a 25-13, 26-24 win.

“These girls did a fantastic job finishing this match,” Wilson said. “Coming from behind in the second set was so exciting. I love to see the fight in these young girls.”