Lady Lions defeat Newcastle Tuesday
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions volleyball team finished fourth in the Albany Summer Slam tournament to wrap up the first week of competition.
The Lady Lions (3-3) returned to the court Tuesday, Aug. 15 to host Newcastle, defeating the Lady Bobcats 25-13, 25-21, 25-22.
Albany makes its second tournament outing Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 17-19 at the Electra tournament.
The Lady Lions played their first official match Tuesday, Aug. 8, at Breckenridge, falling 21-25, 14-25, 23-25. On Thursday, Aug. 10, Albany swept its pool matches, defeating Rotan 25-10, 25-10 and Bronte 25-20, 20-25, 15-10. In bracket play on Saturday, Aug. 12, the Lady Lions opened by beating Snyder 25-17, 25-9 before losing to Abilene Christian 22-25, 14-25 and Bronte 21-25, 25-16, 6-25.
Individual statistics for the matches were not available.
“This was the second year we’ve gotten fourth,” Albany head coach M.J. Reneau said. “It was kind of the same scenario. We beat Bronte in pool play but lost to them in bracket play.”
Reneau said the opening week was productive for her team.
“I saw so many good things,” she said. “The team is really coming together.”
Reneau said the Lady Lions faced quality competition in the tournament. Abilene Wylie JV won the championship over Abilene Christian.
“I think this is the best tournament we’ve put on in the five years I’ve been here as far as competition goes,” she said. “We could put that bracket up again next week and someone different would win. All the teams were pretty even.”
Junior Varsity
The Lady Lions JV went 2-2 for the week, defeating Breckenridge 20-25, 25-20, 16-14 on Tuesday. On Friday at the Summer Slam, Albany beat De Leon JV in three sets, then lost to Knox City in two and Abilene Christian JV in three.
“I think the first week was really good; the girls worked really hard,” JV coach Makinzie Tomascik said. “They got a lot of work in. JV is where you get better and prepare for varsity.”
Junior High
The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs began practice today with the start of school and will play their first match Monday, Aug. 21 at Abilene Christian.
Albany will have Red and White teams on the court this fall instead of splitting teams by grade.
The Red team will be coached by Lauren Peacock with Brad Stautzenberger coaching the White team.
