As the band Semisonic wrote in their 1998 hit Closing Time, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
Aledo’s Ladycat volleyball team officially closed one chapter of their 2022 campaign by ripping off a couple of district wins over Azle and Granbury, putting a bow on the regular season. The Ladycats won 66 percent of their games, finishing with an overall record of 29-15 en route to securing the second-place finish in 5A Region I District 5 play by going 10-2.
Now the records reset to 0-0 as Aledo’s netters prepare to enter the playoffs.
“Playoffs are going to be fun. This is the exciting part of the season. This is what you work really hard for,” said coach Claire Gay looking ahead to her squad’s trip to Lubbock next week for the first round of bi-district play. “All the time you’ve put in the gym, this is where it comes into play. I think we’re ready.”
“We’re going in second. Second’s not the easier route. Sometimes you get a district playoff run where first is hard and second is the easier route. This year that is not the case. So, second place, we’re going to hopefully get through the first round. Then we’ll see the winner of District 8, which was Midlothian. We’ve played them already this season and lost to them in a tournament. It was a nice match. I’d like to see them again, because I think we look a bit different than we did then,” Gay said.
Midlothian’s Lady Panthers pulled off the victory against Aledo by scores of 25-14 and 25-23, but that was on Aug. 13. Since then, the Ladycats rallied to win 23 matches, which includes a stellar run through district play.
“I’m super excited with this team,” said senior outside hitter Alyssa Gonzales. “I feel like we have a lot of potential going into playoffs. We’ve been working really hard in practice preparing for playoffs. We went into districts wanting to fight for that first-place spot. Now that we know we have that second-place spot, we really have to fight during playoffs to make it to state, and that’s our ultimate goal.”
Aledo closed out the season with a pair of masterful performances providing good momentum heading into the tough uphill climb that awaits them in the postseason. Tuesday night on the road, the Ladycats pounced on Granbury, winning in straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-15, and 25-15. Lauryn Mack led the charge for the Ladycats in the contest as she compiled 15 digs, nine kills, and an ace during the match. Vivian Parker racked up nine digs and six kills. Mia Little had one of her strongest performances in recent memory with 19 digs and a pair of aces to her credit. Rylee Metts also scored an ace during the match to accompany her 23 assists on the night. Meanwhile, Gonzales led the team in kills with 15 points against the Lady Pirates.
Last Friday, Aledo defended their home court for the final time in 2022 as they made quick work of Azle’s Lady Hornets. The Ladycats swept the match in straight sets by tallies of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-16.
With Parker Dwinell at the service line, Aledo rallied to cap off the match with a 4-0 run to end the night. Needing just one more score to seal Azle’s fate, Dwinell served with her squad up 24-16. The Lady Hornets attempted to return the volley, but a well-timed leap by Gonzales at the net secured a ninth block in the contest for the Ladycats, and the match along with it.
Skylar Lambert dominated at the net for the Ladycats defensively, amassing six blocks by herself. At one point in the second set Lambert secured three blocks in the same volley. Two of those blocks came against the same Lady Hornet hitter.
Azle set up a scoring attempt with the hitter leaping into the air on the visiting side of the court for the spike. Lambert met her at the net with a block that sent the ball right back where it came from.
The Lady Hornets managed to keep the ball in motion as they set up a second attempt aimed in Lambert’s direction. Once again, Lambert timed her leap with precision, meeting the ball as it crossed the top of the net. The ball ricocheted off her hands with tremendous velocity before colliding with the face of Azle’s hitter on its way to the floor for another Ladycat score.
Parker had another spectacular performance in the match. She ended the night against Azle with 20 digs, 13 kills, and an ace. Gonzales compiled 10 kills, three blocks, and an ace of her own. Mack also finished at the top of the statistical leaders for Aledo as she added 11 digs of her own along with an ace.
As they prepare to enter the playoffs, the Ladycats will be in action on Friday against Boswell in a warm-up match as they look to fine-tune their game for the tough road ahead.
“We did not make it easy on ourselves taking second, but sometimes that grueling battle in all rounds of the playoffs can really help us if we can get through it,” Gay said. “It will make us more prepared for the region tournament and the state tournament after that.”
When asked if there were any concerns with her team being overconfident entering the higher level of competition in the playoffs after such a prevailing run through district play, Gay replied, “We have really good practices. We test them in practice a lot. There’s a lot of high-level competition within our practice. I like to think we’re going to be prepared for it.”
Speaking further about the upcoming postseason action, Gay added, “I’m not nervous for the playoffs. I don’t think the girls are nervous. They’re ready. They’re ready to show people they can compete at a high level; they can compete in some of those tougher matches and come out successful. They’re ready, and I’ll be excited to see them accomplish some of those goals.”
The Ladycats will head to Lubbock Coronado High School for the first round of playoff action where they will play in match six. Brackets will be finalized in the coming days. To stay up to date on the latest dates and game times go to www.uiltexas.org and watch www.community-news.com for updates.
The Aledo Middle School and McAnally Middle School Ladycats closed out their volleyball seasons facing each other. AMS came away with the win.
7th Grade
A Team: Win (25-12, 25-9)
B Team: Win (25-12, 25-9)
C Team: Win (25- 17, 25-7)
8th Grade
A Team: Loss (17-25, 25-20, 19-25)
B Team: Win (25-9, 25-19)
C Team: Win (25-20, 19-25, 25-20)
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here