“Homecoming week is always fun, there’s a lot of distractions and, you know, it just takes a lot of work to refocus and not let those external factors come into play,” Ladycats head coach Claire Gay said. “It’s hard being a teenager and getting to enjoy those weeks but then having to go back to work for a couple hours. I thought they did a really good job of recovering. It took a little bit to get the momentum on our side collectively and consistently.”
Aledo started in a 4-0 hole but eventually rallied to tie the score at 7-7 following an emphatic kill by junior outside hitter Kaelee Berkley. After that, though, the visitors scored four of the next six points to take an 11-9 lead, which forced Gay to ask the official for a rare time stoppage, but it was just what the Ladycats needed.
“I had to take a timeout, which it’s been a while, but we got it figured out,” Gay said. “We had a good discussion about getting what’s between the ears in the right space. We just had to get the headspace in the right place and we’ve got to remember that the other team is here to play very hard against us. They’re going to capitalize on every opportunity of any weakness we show them. We were just doing things that were very out of character for us on our side of the net, and we just needed to calm back down. Taking that timeout was very important.”
Following the timeout, Aledo outscored Fossil Ridge 16-7 the rest of the way. The rally started when Aledo made a big adjustment – tip drill. Star senior Alyssa Todd started the action with a couple nice, no-look tips to keep the Lady Panthers front line off balance. The tip adjustment eventually allowed Aledo to tie the score at 15-all.
“Building the momentum was a big thing, and I think that’s what helped us win tonight and gather our game back up,” Ladycats senior Kenley Hamilton said. “I think we were just in our heads at the beginning, but all the aces and the energy just helped us bring it all back together.”
Then, senior serving star Kailey Hamilton uncorked several aces from her deck of cards and made the visiting team pay from behind the service line. Hamilton’s first ace gave Aledo its first lead of the set at 16-15, forcing a Fossil Ridge timeout in the process. After that, Hamilton served aces on two of the next three points as the lead grew to 19-15. Kills from the front line coupled with beautiful hustle and defensive playmaking led to an even larger advantage as Aledo closed out the set on a 9-2 run following Fossil Ridge’s first timeout call.
“I told the girls in the locker room that I’m extremely thankful that we get a team that’s willing to play us extremely hard, and they made adjustments in their match along the way,” Gay said. “They worked to find open space on our court and adjusted on what we were doing on defense, and we were just adjusting back and forth with them, which is exactly what you want in a match. I thought they (Fossil Ridge) did a good job of hitting the low seam on us as their offensive plan. We tend to block high and right now that’s not necessarily where we want to be blocking. We need to do a little bit better of a job blocking low seam and making them hit high hands. We just need to do a better job of slowing things down at the net.”
Aledo adjusted beautifully in the final two sets, winning each frame by double digits. Akedi started out hot with an 8-3 opening lead, while Brynleigh Schneider and Karsyn Trott’s defensive playmaking increased the advantage to 14-6, which came off a stuff block by Trott. Then, the ever-versatile Kenley Hamilton – twin sister of Kailey – began to contribute in a big way. She dug up a powerful Fossil Ridge attack beautifully that elicited effusive praise from her teammates on the bench and the crowd alike. Her dig helped produce a monster kill by Todd, whose termination off that play pushed the lead to 17-8.
“I like being able to play multiple positions for this team,” Kenley Hamilton said. “I only really play defensive specialist or libero, but I think it’s good to be able to produce in all the stages of the game.”
Aledo closed the second set on a 6-0 run and cruised to the finish line in the third set. Senior setter Sophie Frank had an ace that gave Aledo an early 4-0 lead, and sophomore outside hitter Avery Pipkins ended a long, thrilling rally a few points later that gave the Ladycats a 9-4 advantage. Aledo remained in firm control of the final set, and Trott terminated from the middle to end the match.
Todd and Berkley starred for Aledo up front with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Todd amassed a team-high 22 digs with one block while Berkley added 17 digs. Kailey Hamilton had team-highs in assists (15) and aces (three) while Kenley Hamilton recorded six digs and had several out-of-system assists. Trott had three kills and three blocks while Schneider and Lily Lufkins each added three kills. Schneider also produced three blocks while Kennedy Christie finished with two rejections. Senior libero Karsyn Evans held it down on the back row with 12 kills along with two aces while Frank compiled 14 assists, nine digs, and one ace.
The subvarsity programs were all victorious Friday night. The Aledo JV (25-20, 25-18), ninth grade A team (25-10, 25-9), and the ninth grade B team (25-11, 25-15) each swept their respective matches.
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