Lady Lions Stay Strong in District play
The Albany Lady Lions hit their stride at the right time Saturday, sweeping Hawley 25-15, 25-19, 25-23 in a strong district performance before heading into another week of road and home matches.
Albany traveled to Colorado City Tuesday, Oct. 6, winning against the Lady Wolves 25-20, 18-25, 25-14, 25-10, moving the varsity girls to 20-6 overall and 4-0 in district play.
The Lady Lions will return to the road Saturday, Oct. 10, to face the Roscoe Lady Plowboys. The JV match is scheduled for 10 a.m., followed by varsity at about 11 a.m.
Albany will be at home Tuesday, Oct. 13, for a Pink Out match against Abilene TLCA, with JV at 4:30 p.m. followed by varsity.
Head coach M.J. Reneau said the Sept. 29 loss to 3A-D1 Sweetwater gave Albany an opportunity to compete against a larger team and work through different combinations on the court.
“Playing a bigger Sweetwater team on the road was exactly the kind of challenge we needed as we prepared for Hawley and the rest of district,” Reneau said. “We saw some strong servers and blockers, were able to work through several different lineups, and every girl gained valuable experience against a very competitive team.”
Reneau said the lessons from Sweetwater carried into Saturday’s match, when the Lady Lions put together one of their better performances of the season.
“Our chemistry was as good as it has been all season, and we played aggressive, confident volleyball,” she said. “Our serve receive allowed us to consistently run our offense and attack, which is exactly where we want to be at this point in the season.”
The victory came during homecoming week, when practice time and energy could have been affected by the busy schedule.
“You could tell these girls wanted this match, and they came out ready to compete,” Reneau said. “I’m extremely proud of how they prepared, played together, and earned this win.”
Albany’s JV1 team dropped its Sept. 29 match with Sweetwater 8-25, 9-25. Coach Blaine Niell said missed opportunities and errors made it difficult for the team to establish a rhythm.
“We had too many mistakes and unforced errors, but every game is an opportunity to learn and grow,” Niell said. “We will reset, learn from it and refocus for our upcoming games.”
JV1 then fell to Hawley in two sets, 24-26, 23-25. Missed serves, communication errors and mistakes at key moments allowed Hawley to build momentum in a close match.
The JV2 team, coached by Brittany Roes, played both Sweetwater and Hawley, losing each match in three sets. Scores were not available.
