Aledo’s Ladycat volleyball team swept Azle’s Lady Hornets on Tuesday night, improving to 3-0 in district play and 4-0 overall since suffering their last defeat at the hands of Northwest earlier this month.
The Lady Hornets held their ground in the contest, but the Ladycat netters left Azle in short order winning in three-straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-16, and 25-19.
Alyssa Gonzales led Aledo statistically in the match as she accumulated 16 kills, 13 digs, and an ace. Lauryn Mack also contributed at a high level leading the Ladycats in digs with 17 while also amassing 10 kills of her own.
Ava Reding and Catie Messer both finished the night with double-digit assists. Reding racked up 22 while Messer added 14.
Meanwhile, Kinley Elms tended the net for the Ladycats stuffing a pair of spike attempts by the Lady Hornets to add two blocks to her season stats.
Brewer’s Lady Bears came to visit last Friday, but were quickly sent packing as the Ladycats bested Brewer in three straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-10, and 25-19.
“With [Friday] being an off day for the students, it’s kind of nerve-racking as a coach, because they’re not in their routine that day,” Coach Claire Gay said after the match. “But they came out, they handled the team well…For a Friday with no school and no routine, I thought they did a good job.”
The Ladycats controlled the action for most of the night, jumping out to early leads in all three sets forcing Brewer to use timeouts as potential momentum breakers. With each timeout called, the Lady Bears managed to inch a little closer to Aledo before the Ladycats were able to get back in sync ultimately sealing victory in the respective set for the home netters.
Brewer attempted to avoid the three-set sweep with a late rally in the third set. However, Messer’s service with the score at 22-19 in favor of the Ladycats set Aledo’s sprint to the finish in motion. Messer’s serve made its way deep into the Lady Bear backcourt. Brewer’s lady netters were able to make a play on the serve avoiding the ace, but failed to return the volley making it a 23-19 affair favoring the hometown team.
Messer’s second serve was returned by the Lady Bears. However, the attempted spike overshot the playing surface as the Ladycats watched the ball sail out of bounds bringing up the pending match-point.
With the match in hand Messer’s serve was returned successfully by the Lady Bears. Mack, Aledo’s resident outside hitter, made a great defensive play to bump the ball into the air giving the Ladycats an opportunity to set up their offensive return volley. Messer set up the shot perfectly as mid hitter Skyler Lambert laid the finesse return over the net where it was bobbled by a pair of Brewer players before hitting the floor to secure the victory for the Ladycats in front of the hometown crowd.
Gonzales led Aledo’s statistical output with nine kills, a trifecta of aces, and a pair of blocks to her credit on the night. Maddie Frank also shined at the net with nine kills and two blocks of her own.
Meanwhile, Reding did a phenomenal job getting her teammates involved in the offense as she closed out the night with 22 assists.
The wins over Brewer and Azle moved Aledo to 4-1 in 5A Region I District 5 action and 23-14 overall. When asked what her team needs to work on to overtake Northwest at the top of the district standings, Gay replied, “We need to clean up our game on our side of the net and get some good, consistent flow. We tend to shy away from talking. As much as they love to talk on the outside of the court, we tend to shy away from talking inside the court, and it creates struggles for us.”
Aledo will be at home again on Friday for another district matchup when Granbury’s Lady Pirates (14-23 overall, 2-3 district) come to town to close out the first round of district action. That match is slated to begin at 5:30 pm.
8th Grade
A Team: Win (25-9, 25-15)
B Team: Win (25-12, 25-15)
C Team: Win (25-12, 25-15)
7th Grade
A Team: Win (25-9, 25-10)
B Team: Win (25-8, 25-11)
C Team: Win (25-10, 25-6)
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