Girls win 4 of 5 in Gold Bracket
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lady Lions won four out of five games in the Albany Summer Slam Tournament last week to capture the consolation trophy in the Gold Bracket.
The regular season opened last Tuesday with a loss at Jim Ned, followed by dropping a rematch against the Lady Indians this week in Albany.
The Lady Lions fell to Jim Ned the second time in a hard-fought four-set matchup 21-25, 17-25, 26-24, 20-25. Complete game results were not available at press time but will be reported next week.
The Albany girls will travel to Abilene on Saturday for games at Abilene Christian School starting at 12:00 noon with the JV squad. The varsity game will follow at 1:00 p.m.
The local teams will be at home next Tuesday, Aug. 20 to host Eastland, with games starting at 4:30 p.m.
Varsity Results
The Lady Lions won both pool games last Thursday, first beating Rotan 25-9, 25-19. Later they defeated DeLeon 25-12, 25-16 to move to the Gold Bracket on Saturday.
“The girls came out ready to play against Rotan,” head coach M.J. Reneau said. “Our goal was to win every side out point and not let Rotan gain any momentum.”
The coach said that Clara Holson led the team with 16 assists, while Alli Hill got five kills to lead the offense.
Scoring points on serves were Torie Fuentes 1, Blanton Belcher 11, Alli Hill 9, Sara Beth Cotter 5, Clara Holson 8, and Taylor Scott 8.
The Albany girls finished first in their pool with the win over DeLeon.
“We jumped out in the beginning and never looked back,” the coach said. “Clara again did a great job of spreading out the offense and five of our six hitters recorded kills. The serve receive was solid in this game, allowing our offense to stay strong.”
Scoring on serves were Fuentes 5, Belcher 4, Hill 3, Cotter 12, Holson 11, Mady Connally 1, and Scott 7.
The varsity’s lone loss came in the first round of bracket play on Saturday, when the Albany team lost to Eastland 19-25, 26-24, 23-25.
“This game was a battle, but the girls stuck to the game plan and almost finished on top,” Reneau said. “I was proud of the confidence and fight the girls showed.”
She added that the Lady Lions made very few serve and serve receive errors in the match and were aggressive at the net.
Scoring on service were Fuentes 11, Belcher 16, Hill 6, Cotter 9, Holson 18, Scott 6.
The Lady Lions got back on track with a 25-20, 26-28, 25-20 win over Jim Ned’s JV in the second round to advance to the consolation game.
Scoring on service in the game were Fuentes 7, Belcher 9, Hill 7, Cotter 13, Holson 17, Hannah Trail 1, Connally 2, and Scott 8.
The team wrapped up the consolation title with a 25-13, 25-23 win over Abilene Christian in the fifth game.
“The girls grew as a team during the tournament,” Reneau said. “Each game was a learning experience. It was exciting to face good competition early in the season, which will make us better.”
Scoring on serves were Fuentes 6, Belcher 6, Hill 5, Cotter 3, Holson 8, Scott 12.
The varsity opened the season on Aug. 6 with a 29-31, 19-25, 19-25 loss to Jim Ned’s varsity.
“The girls fought hard and never game up,” the coach said. “We played scrappy, solid defense, with Torie Fuentes leading us with 14 digs.”
She added that the girls also played aggressively at the net, with Cotter getting nine kills.
“Clara had 15 assists in the game and gave our hitters some good looks,” the coach said. “Taylor Scott had 20 serves with no errors, which allowed us to gain momentum at times during the game.”
JV I Results
While the JV Red team lost the opener in Jim Ned last week, they were perfect through five games in their tournament bracket last Friday.
Albany beat the Breckenridge JV 22-25, 25-14, 15-12 in the first round, and defeated Bronte 25-13, 25-14 in the second match.
The JV I also picked up a 25-15, 27-25 victory over Clyde and a 19-25, 25-21, 15-11 win over Eastland’s JV.
Albany earned a tight win over Breckenridge, 25-23, 25-21 in the final match.
“The JV Red continues to get better,” coach Jamie Wilson said. “We split the girls up for part of the tournament, so we had lots of players in positions they hadn’t really played before. I think it was great for them because they can get a sense of what players in other positions have to go through.”
The coach commended the group for the adjustments and communication required to come up with five wins.
JV II Results
The JV II team started with with a 25-15, 20-25, 11-15 loss in Jim Ned on Aug. 6, then won both games in the local tournament.
They defeated Bangs 25-22, 25-16 in the first round and then beat to Eastland 25-13, 22-25, 15-3 in their second game.
“We continue to see so much improvement every time the JV White takes the court,” Wilson said. “They get better with every game, and that’s all we can ask for.”
