GRANBURY – In their most recent district outing, the No. 6 state-ranked Aledo Ladycats faced the Granbury Lady Pirates once more after sweeping Granbury previously in Aledo. This time was no different.
In fact, Aledo was more dominant on the road as the Ladycats cruised to a straight-sets win Friday night, Oct. 11, by a final score of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-15.
After senior setter Ava Reding celebrated her 2,000-assist milestone in a win over Brewer on Oct. 8, senior libero Kenrie Pruitt achieved her own positional accomplishment of 1,000 career digs. Furthermore, she was a force on the back line against Granbury with 13 digs. Her back line running mate, senior defensive specialist Ella Meador, led the team with 16 digs.
Offensively, star junior Alyssa Todd led the charge with 16 digs to go with 11 digs, two blocks and one ace. Meanwhile, senior middles Kinley Elms and Haley Lowe dominated up front, combining for 16 kills and seven blocks. Reding and junior Sophie Frank combined for 27 assists while Frank also produced 12 digs and Reding served an ace. Ella Isbell and Ali LoBaugh combined for seven blocks while Kenley Hamilton served an ace.
On the subvarsity levels, the ninth-grade B team won in straight sets (25-16 and 25-6), the ninth-grade A team earned a sweep (25-9 and 25-10) and the junior varsity recorded a victory in two sets (25-17 and 25-14).
The Ladycats (26-7, 7-0) were playing at Saginaw at press time. The Ladycats have yet to drop a set through seven district wins.
The Aledo Ladycats continued their stellar play through their district portion of their schedule on Tuesday night, Oct. 8 as they hosted the Brewer Lady Bears. Aledo, who was having its Senior Night, rolled to another impressive win in straight sets by a final score of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-12.
“We’re really hitting a nice groove. We try to get creative with them in practice by creating new challenges and goals for them,” Ladycats head coach Claire Gay said. “They’re just such a great group of kids, they bond really well and they support one another like family. They’ve really come together as a unit, and that’s what you want from a team. We’ve got some tough opponents coming up, so we just need to keep fine tuning things moving forward.”
Along with coasting through three more sets to remain undefeated in matches or sets in district play, senior setter Ava Reding achieved an impressive career achievement. Reding distributed 23 assists on the night to surpass 2,000 assists in her Ladycat career.Along with her 23 assists, Reding served an ace along with fellow senior Caroline Pruett. Junior outside hitter Alyssa Todd added 12 kills, eight digs and one block while senior middle Kinley Elms registered 11 kills and one block. Senior middle Haley Lowe had seven kills and two blocks while senior libero Kenrie Pruitt anchored the back line defense with 15 digs. Senior defensive specialist Ella Meador also chipped in with 13 digs and five assists while senior defensive specialist Logyn Denbow tallied eight digs. Aledo seniors Morgan Estevez and Ella Isbell combined for nine kills while junior setter Sophie Frank compiled seven assists.
On the subvarsity levels, the ninth-grade B team beat Brewer in straight sets (25-7 and 25-14), the ninth-grade A team earned a straight-sets win (25-12 and 25-9) and the junior varsity squad swept as well (25-7 and 25-9).
Aledo recognized its nine seniors on the roster, and Gay praised her seniors’ leadership, production and character in how they’ve helped build upon the program’s foundation.
“The vast majority of these nine seniors have been in the varsity program for the last three years, so I’ve seen them grow up in camp here and develop along the way,” Gay said. “They’re just a really cool group. The parents are supportive to all the kids involved, which is a testament to the type of kids we have and the players that they are.
“They’re very selfless and it’s a huge quality that not every team has,” Gay continued. “This group is so selfless. They are always cheering for each other and are more excited than for others than themselves. ... They’re just remarkable young women. They’re talented on the court, in the classroom and in other sports as well. They’re well-versed, well-rounded and are a huge inspiration to other young girls who want to play the game like them.
“The majority of them have been playing together since they were 8 years old, and you see the value in that as a special group.”
The Ladycats (25-7, 6-0) will go for their 16th win in a row at 6 p.m. Friday at Azle. They return home on Oct. 22 to host Fossil Ridge and end the regular season Oct. 29 at Chisholm Trail.
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