Girls to start district against Strawn
The varsity girls volleyball team ended the pre-district portion of their schedule this week, preparing for the opening of District 6-2A in Strawn on Saturday.
Albany will travel to Strawn for an 11:00 a.m. game for the varsity squad. Strawn does not have a JV team.
The Lady Lions will be back at home on Tuesday, Sept. 11 to host Newcastle in a pair of bouts starting at 5:00 p.m.
Albany made the trip to Bangs on Tuesday this week, bringing home an extremely close 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 win over the Lady Dragons, finishing the pre-district part of the schedule with a 5-8 record.
Albany suffered a loss to Clyde last week at home, 15-25, 20-25, 18-25.
“Despite some of the struggles we had against Clyde, I hope the girls see that they are able to compete with schools in larger divisions,” head coach Kimberly Hill said. “It is valuable experience for us and being challenged will help the team grow and get better.”
Individual statistics for the match were not available.
JV Teams Win
The two junior varsity teams both won their games against Clyde last Tuesday, and both squads competed well at the Clyde tournament on Saturday.
The JV Red defeated Clyde’s JV in three sets, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21.
“We dropped the first set to them after making a few hitting errors,” coach Lauren Peacock said. “We got our composure back and stepped up our game. We were patient and smart at the net, which helped.”
The coach praised Addie Beth Denton and Carli Edgar for aggressive play at the net, along with Landree Connally for her passing game and Clara Holson for sets and serves.
The JV White team won in two sets against Clyde’s freshmen, 28-26, 25-18.
“Our first set was long, but we pulled it out,” the coach said. “We dug ourselves a hole and had to work our way out of it.”
The coach commended Sara Smith and Isabel Alvarez at the service line, along with Lizzie Chavez at the setter position. She also said Savannah Giessmann, Savannah Hobbs, Tristen Brown, and Amber Leverton all had good games.
The Albany Red team won two of three games at the Clyde tournament Saturday to come home with the trophy in the consolation bracket, while the JV White won the freshman division with a 3-1 game count.
The Red team lost to Clyde in three sets, 27-25, 16-25, 19-25 in the first round, but bounced back with a win over Early, 25-22, 18-25, 25-20. The team took the trophy with straight sets over Hawley, 25-21, 25-17.
“We made quite a few errors in the third set against Clyde that really hurt us,” Peacock said. “Overall though, we played pretty solid. Our serves were on and our passing was decent. We struggled at hitting the ball, but I told them to keep swinging.”
The coach commended Sarah Beth Cotter, Denton, and Edgar for their play at the net.
The White team beat Coleman in the first round, 25-11, 25-9. Getting service points were Chavez, 11; Brown, 19; Pepper Martin, 6; Hobbs, 3; and Giessmann, 2.
Albany dropped the second round to Jim Ned, 14-25, 21-25. Scoring were Alvarez, 5; Martin, 4; and Chavez, 3.
The team came back to defeat Hawley in two sets, 25-21, 25-19. Scoring were Alvarez, 6; Brown, 7; Chavez, 6; Susie Cormack, 5; and Smith, 4.
In a rematch of the second game, Albany won both sets against Jim Ned in the championship round, 25-13, 25-19. Scoring were Brown, 6; Smith, 6; Alvarez, 5; Giessmann, 6; Martin, 4; and Chavez, 4.
“We played Jim Ned close in the second set, which made it exciting,” coach Ginger Norton said. “The girls played well, and I am proud of them for winning the championship.”
