Ladycats tame Panthers

The Aledo Ladycats, No. 6 in the state, played in another district match, which meant another occasion to get the brooms out. As they have done in each of their previous district matches, the Ladycats (29-7 overall, 11-0 in District 5-5A) used impressive collective play to sweep Keller Fossil Ridge once more Tuesday night, Oct. 22. Aledo secured the victory by a final score of 25-10, 25-9 and 25-12.

“This group of seniors has been together for a very long time and grew up playing together before they got here,” Ladycats head coach Claire Gay said. “The majority of them have been on varsity since their sophomore year, so they’ve been down this road – they know what it takes to get to this point and they know what they’re hungry for. They’re a really fun and selfless group of girls that really cares about each others’ successes more than their own. I think that aspect really drives our success.”

Aledo was able to build large early leads in each of the three sets. In the first set, the Ladycats raced ahead 9-3, forcing Fossil Ridge to call a timeout. However, Aledo continued to build on its lead. A tip shot from senior middle blocker Haley Lowe and a kill from star junior Alyssa Todd extended the lead to double digits at 19-9. After that, Todd ended a long rally with a kill and thumped another ball to the hardwood on the next possession to make it a 21-7 advantage. Aledo then scored its final three points with kills from the front row, two from Todd and the final kill from senior outside hitter Morgan Estevez.

The Ladycats came out of the gates strong in the second set, opening up an early 8-1 lead. Later in the set, Todd hammered back-to-back kills that pushed the lead to 14-5. Senior middle blocker Kinley Elms helped close out the match with two powerful kills on points 23 and 24, and a final kill from Lowe put Aledo ahead 2-0 in sets.

“We go really hard in practice and we’re always having fun bonding together as a team,” Ladycats senior middle blocker Haley Lowe said. “We’re always encouraging each other and I think it really helps that we’re always positive towards each other.”

Aledo went on to win the third set comfortably but, as it was with the first two sets, got a huge boost from the back row – headlined by seniors Kenrie Pruitt, Ella Meador and Logyn Denbow. The three back row specialists repeatedly dug up quality Fossil Ridge attacks and passed the ball accurately while on the move to setters Ava Reding and Sophie Frank. The combination of effort, hustle and accuracy from the back row players was pivotal in keeping Aledo’s offense in system.

“We work on a lot of ball handling in practice where we do drills that make them run back and forth and change direction,” Gay said. “They also put in work in the weight room, too, which pays off huge for us. The game has kind of shifted to hustle plays, one-armed saves and reaching digs being really important. Our back row has kept us in a lot of matches offensively, so we are very grateful for them.”

Todd and Elms led the offense with 14 kills apiece. Todd also registered two aces while Elms had a block. Lowe poured in eight kills and one block while Estevez added five kills. Reding was impressive with 24 assists, nine digs and two aces while Frank finished with 10 assists. Pruitt anchored the back row with a game-high 23 digs with one ace while Meador recorded 15 digs and an ace. Denbow also served an ace while Ella Isbell had a team-high four blocks. Ali LoBaugh ended the night with two stuffs while Sarah Schroeder and Tatum Kosse each had one block apiece.

The Ladycats won their 18th match in a row and have yet to drop a game in district play with one league match to go (at Chisholm Trail at press time) but the Ladycats are remaining focused on the task at hand and plan to make the most out of the remainder of the season.

“You can’t take moments off, you can’t take practice opportunities off and you can’t take opportunities to get better off,” Gay said. “Every ball you play has to be better than the one before, and it’s challenging as it’s been a long three and-a-half months, but ultimately there’s only three and-a-half weeks left in the season – that’s all. When you break that down, it’s worth every hustle play and opportunity to get better. We’re peaking at the right time and it’s a huge goal for our team. We are just taking things one day at a time and taking advantage of the time we do have together because once it’s done, it’s done.”

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