Lady Lions finish strong in silver bracket at home tournament

The Albany Lady Lions wrapped up tournament season by hosting their annual varsity volleyball tournament August 28–30. The event featured 12 teams from across Class 1A to Class 4A, bringing strong competition to Albany for three full days of play.

Varsity pool play took place Thursday, with Albany competing in a three-team bracket alongside Comanche and Rotan. The Lady Lions fell in both matches, with early errors proving costly.

“We didn’t do as well in pool play on Thursday as we would have liked to,” head coach MJ Reneau said. “We missed way too many serves to get our momentum going, but we did have a close game with Comanche that we were proud of.”

Albany was placed in the silver bracket based on Thursday’s results. On Saturday, the Lady Lions responded with back-to-back victories—defeating Aspermont and Coleman to claim the silver bracket title.

“I told the girls to come back on Saturday ready to go,” Reneau said. “They did that, and I felt like they made a good statement in the silver bracket by winning both games and making the best of our situation.”

It was Albany’s third matchup of the season against Aspermont, and the Lady Lions improved to 3–0 in the series. The game against Coleman marked the first meeting since Albany’s playoff win last fall.

“It’s really hard to beat a team three times, so I was glad we were able to take care of that game,” Reneau said of the Aspermont match. “And against Coleman, I think we showed growth since last year’s playoff run.”

Jim Ned won the overall tournament championship, defeating Comanche in the final match. The consolation bracket ended with Brownwood and Breckenridge facing off.

“We’re really proud of the tournament we put on,” Reneau said. “We had schools ranging from 1A to 4A, and I think bringing in bigger schools and stronger competition helps our program. It also brings people into Albany, which is great for the community.”

The tournament will return to its original calendar slot next year, moving back to the second weekend in August.

Tuesday night, the Lady Lions were scheduled to travel to Benjamin for a dual match against both Benjamin and Seymour. Those games were completed after press time and will be reported in next week’s issue. Albany remains in non-district play through September 23, when the team opens district competition at home against Abilene TLCA. The Lady Lions will be off this Saturday before returning to action next week with a match against Snyder.