Ladycats sweep Denton to advance to area round

Aledo outside hitter Evelyn Torres sent down a match-high 10 kills to go along with a pair of blocks while Hannah Jones and Daleigh Ellison each recorded seven kills to help the No. 11 Ladycats to a 25-9, 25-23, 25-14 victory over the Denton High School Lady Broncos Monday night in a Class 5A bi-district playoff volleyball match at Keller Central High School.

The win advances the Ladycats (33-13) to the area round where Aledo will face Birdville. The match is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Mansfield Summit High School.

Aledo middle hitter Sarah Haeussler recorded two blocks and six kills, with Alex Grooms adding three kills and Anastasia Morrison two.

Ellison led the Ladycats in the opening game with six kills and a block. The Ladycats jumped out to a 7-2 lead, and after a 10-0 run stretched the lead to 21-7. A kill by Torres sealed game one.

Game two saw Denton take an early 5-2 lead, but two kills and a block by Torres and a Denton return error gave the Ladycats a 6-5 lead. However, Denton came back to take an 8-7 advantage before a 4-0 run - helped by three Denton return errors - gave the Ladycats an 11-8 lead.

With the game still tight and Aledo leading 15-14, the Ladycats went on a 6-0 run for a 21-14 cushion. But scrappy Denton put together an 8-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. A Denton service error tied the game, and an ace by Torres followed by a kill from Sydney Casey put the set at game point.

Two rallies later, Denton hit a return into the net as Aledo took a 2-0 lead in games in the best-of-five match.

Game three was a runaway. The Ladycats took an early 8-2 lead and built the lead to 19-10 after a kill in the middle from Haeussler. After Denton cut the lead to 19-12, the Ladycats - sparked by two kills from Torres, a kill by Grooms, an ace by setter Maggie Wackerhagen and a Denton return error - went on a 5-0 run to bring the game to match point with AHS in front, 24-12.

After Denton stayed alive with consecutive points, the Lady Broncos ensuing serve flew into the net for Aledo's match-clinching point.

For the complete story see the Nov. 3 issue of The Community News.