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Albany to share district title with Hawley

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By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion volleyball team traveled to Hawley on Tuesday with the district title on the line, suffering their first district loss in five sets to tie with the Lady Bearcats for the District 6-2A championship.

Albany fell to the Lady Bearcats 22-25,25-22,25-21,23-25,10-15 to improve to 17-3 for the season and 3-1 in district.

The Lady Lions defeated Hawley in the first district round in four sets, breaking the Lady Bearcats’ 79-game winning streak for district games.

Hawley and Albany will share the district crown but will either play a tie-breaker for seeding purposes or flip for position in the playoffs. Details of how seeding will be determined were not set as of noon Wednesday.

Both teams will have a bye in the first round, facing either Colorado City or Miles, co-champs of District 7-2A, in the second round.

Albany will end the regular season at home on Saturday with a 10:00 a.m. game against Rising Star.

Details of the Hawley game were not available at press time but will be reported next week.

Albany is scheduled to host a pair of playoff practice games, the first on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 5:00 p.m. against Tolar. The second practice game is set for Saturday, Oct. 31 against Benjamin, starting at 11:00 a.m.

The Lady Lions defeated Ranger in three sets last Friday, Oct. 16, making up a game that was postponed due to a COVID-19 quarantine after several members of the Albany team tested positive late in September.

Albany won the match 25-14, 25-15, 25-10.

“This was the only game we had to make up after being quarantined,” head volleyball coach M.J. Reneau said. “Homecoming week can be tiring, especially since five of the girls were in the homecoming court.”

Reneau said she was pleased that the team stayed focused.

“I am so proud of them for being excited about the game and staying focused despite all the events going on around them,” she said. “We are all so happy to be back on the court together, and we can’t wait for the playoffs.”

albany VS. Ranger

PLAYER Serves Kills Digs Blks Asst

A Hill 2 4 5 0 0

T Fuentes 14 1 5 0 0

A Garcia 1 2 1 0 0

S Cotter 6 12 1 1 0

C Holson 8 4 3 0 26

C Nelson 3 0 1 0 0

B Belcher 24 0 3 0 0

A Denton 0 6 1 0 0

T Brown 10 2 1 0 0

M Farmer 5 0 0 0 0

C Edgar 0 0 1 0 0

The team also beat Newcastle on Oct. 13 in three sets, 25-9, 25-12, 25-14.

“The girls took advantage of every free ball that Newcastle gave us,” Reneau said. “We’ve added some offensive plays, which the girls are having fun running.”

albany VS. Newcastle

PLAYER Serves Kills Digs Blks Asst

A Hill 8 9 9 0 0

T Fuentes 14 0 5 0 0

A Garcia 2 2 0 0 0

S Cotter 4 12 1 2 1

C Holson 6 5 1 1 21

C Nelson 13 0 2 0 0

B Belcher 22 0 7 0 0

A Denton 0 1 0 0 0

T Brown 4 0 1 0 0

M Farmer 0 0 1 0 0

The coach was pleased with the Lady Lions’ serve-receive and defense.

“We didn’t let any ball hit the floor untouched, and we recorded 29 kills.”

The JV I girls also played Ranger last Friday, winning in two sets 25-12, 25-14, improving to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in district.

“The JV I had a great comeback game,” said coach Jamie Wilson. “They did a really good job on the back row. Robin Lucas had a lot of nice passes, which led to some great kills.”

She added that the team stayed focused and finished strong.