The Aledo Ladycats continued their march through the postseason after capturing victories over Birdville and Burleson in the bi-district and area rounds, respectively. In their regional semifinal bout, the Ladycats faced off against the Amarillo Sandies, the No. 1 team in the state in Class 5A Division I by the Texas Girls Coaches Association at the Western Texas College Coliseum in Snyder.
Aledo, who took down the same Amarillo team earlier in the season in four sets, ousted the familiar foe in even more dominant fashion, sweeping the Sandies by a final score of 25-22, 25-14 and 25-20.
The win gave Aledo (34-7), ranked No. 3 in Class 5A Division I, the title of regional semifinal champions, the program’s best result since 2017 when they advanced to the state semifinals in Claire Gay’s first season as head coach.
The impressive win over Amarillo (37-7), a team who has eliminated Aledo from postseason competition in three out of their four postseason meetings since 2013, sets up another playoff rematch for rights to Class 5A Region I.
There, Aledo will take its 23-match win streak and face off against the mighty Colleyville Heritage Lady Panthers (36-6), led by dynamic senior and BYU-commit Suli Davis, one of the top ranked players in the nation. The Lady Panthers are ranked No. 2 in Class 5A Division I.
Colleyville Heritage defeated Aledo 2-0 (25-19, 25-23) in a tournament earlier this season.
In the win over Amarillo, star junior Alyssa Todd led the way with 19 kills and seven digs while junior setter Sophie Frank distributed 14 assists, recorded a team-high 12 digs and served one ace. Senior middles Kinley Elms and Haley Lowe finished with identical statlines of four kills and four blocks, and senior middle Ella Isbell recorded three kills and a team-high six blocks. Morgan Estevez also contributed up front with three kills while Ali LoBaugh registered three blocks.
Senior setter Ava Reding added 11 assists and five digs while Ella Meador had nine digs and served two aces. Senior libero Kenrie Pruitt added seven digs and senior defensive specialist Logyn Denbow finished with five digs.
The Ladycats and Lady Panthers will battle for a spot in the state semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday at W.G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City.
Trying to win a single point, much less a set or match, is a big task for opponents of the Aledo Ladycats volleyball team these days.
The latest team to try - and to fall far short - was the Burleson Lady Elks in the Class 5A Division I area round playoffs. The Ladycats controlled the match from start to finish, leading wire-to-wire, in a 3-0 sweep at the Arlington ISD Athletics Center on Thursday, Nov. 7.
The Ladycats (33-7) humbled the Lady Elks (24-16) 25-10, 25-12, 25-12, winning for a 22nd straight match. It was their 27th win in straight sets this season and the 15th in the past 16 matches, including all 12 of their District 5-5A matches.
Much of their success against Burleson was connected to serving. Aledo was able to do consistently and the Lady Elks had difficulty.
Seventeen of Aledo's points in the first set came off of their serves, including a 7-0 run to end the contest. It started with a kill by Alyssa Todd to give them the ball, with Logyn Denbow then serving six straight points, with the help of a pair of blocks and a kill by Haley Lowe.
Meanwhile, it was the second set before Burleson scored a point off its serve.
In all, Aledo scored 48 points via their own serves compared to seven for the Lady Elks.
"We've been working on taking location away from their (opponents) side of the net, keeping the ball away from their best players on serve," Aledo coach Claire Gay said. "If you can take away the better hitters when you serve, it's easier for us to move the ball around."
Denbow served 14 points in the match, including seven straight in an 8-0 run in the second set to give Aledo a 14-5 advantage.
"Serving is a big part of our game. We struggled with it a little in district, but we've been honing our skills," said Morgan Estevez, who served the match-ending point, with a kill from Todd.
Statistical leaders for the Ladycats included:
Kills: Todd 12, Kinley Elms 10, Haley Lowe 8.
Aces: Denbow 2, Ava Reding 1, Todd 1.
Assists: Reding 19, Sophie Frank 8, Hailey Hamilton 7.
Digs: Ella Meador 15, Kenrie Pruitt 8, Denbow 8, Todd 7, Reding 6, Hamilton 5.
Blocks: Lowe 7, Elms 3, Ali LoBaugh 3, Ella Isbell 2.
Gay praised the play of her team during its winning streak, saying, "They're a wonderful group of girls. They've been together a long time and they are willing to work more for each other than themselves."
This was the second win for the Ladycats over Burleson this season, the first being 3-0 in the Arlington Classic Invitational on Aug. 31.
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