Volleyball Wins Big District Game – Heads to Playoffs
The Warrior Volleyball team scored a major win on Tuesday night, defeating second place Ursaline in the last district match of the season. The win negated the need for an in-district tie-break match and sends the Lady Warriors to San Antonio this weekend for the first round of the playoffs.
Coach Lisa Deaver said, “I am so very proud and honored to coach this group of girls!”
After a rough start in the first set and finding themselves down 3-13, the Warriors looked to junior Sophie Asprey who started connecting with her hitters. The girls fought back to within two points, losing the first set 23-25. But with the momentum on the side of the Warriors, the team came out with a vengeance in Game 2, riding the service of juniors Cassie Okland and Abby Deaver, the hitting of junior Betsy Smith, and the timely blocks of junior Ashley Prince. The Warriors stunned the Bears with a 25-12 rout to end the second set.
With the match split 1-1, the third set was a back and forth battle. Finding themselves down 21-24, the Warriors earned a side out to pull within two points. Smith then took the service line, would not be denied the win, and promptly aced the Ursaline receive for five straight points to seal the third set with a score of 26-24!
Despite a match high 14 kills in the fourth set, the Warriors dropped it 23-25, sending the team to the fifth set of the night. The team stormed out to a six-point lead and then watched the Bears close the gap. With Ursaline’s hopes high for a come from behind win, the Lady Warriors slammed the door and walked out with the victory, 15-13!
Smith led the team with an impressive 25 kills and went 15 out of 16, with a team high of six aces from the service line. She also tallied 24 out of 27 in serve receive, and 16 digs to spearhead the effort.
Asprey had 47 assists on the night to go with a perfect 9 for 9 from the service line. Senior Sarah Stanley had a good night in receive, chalking up 37 out of 42, adding in 15 digs and three aces from the service line. Prince racked up six points on solo blocks and added eight kills and an ace to her totals, while Okland was a phenomenal 23 out of 23 with three aces from the service line. She added seven kills and 21 digs to her team’s effort. Deaver tossed in 10 kills, served 25 out of 27, and added five assists and 22 digs in the totals. Junior Abbie Pinkston rounded out the play with five kills and a solo block.