Aledo stunned by Midlothian

After finishing in the top eight of the Northwest Tournament, the Aledo Ladycats volleyball team returned to their home court for more stiff competition Tuesday night where the Ladycats hosted the Midlothian Lady Panthers.

Aledo stormed out of the gates with purpose, building a 2-0 lead in sets but could not put away Midlothian, who surged back into the match and forced a fifth set. Ultimately, the Ladycats fell in five sets to the visitors by a final score of 25-18, 25-10, 17-25, 19-25 and 9-15.

In the first two sets, Aledo was firing on all cylinders. The Ladycats raced ahead 11-6 in the first set after an emphatic block from senior middle Haley Lowe. Then, a nice dump shot from junior setter Sophie Frank capped a 3-0 run that extended the lead to 17-11 and Aledo nursed that lead through the end.

The Ladycats were even more dominant in the second set. The home team raced out to a 5-1 lead, but Midlothian clawed its way back into the match, cutting the deficit to 8-7. However, Aledo – fueled by a flurry of kills from junior outside hitter Alyssa Todd – surged ahead 21-7 on an impressive 13-0 scoring run. A big kill on the right side from senior middle Kinley Elms ended the victorious second set.

Then, the visitors entered set number three with a sharp increase in energy and effort. The Lady Panthers got ahead 4-0 before Aledo scored and held onto its slim lead throughout the early stages of the set.

But Aledo continued to battle. A tip shot from 6-foot-2 middle Lily Lufkin tied the score at 9-9 and senior middle Ella Isbell followed with a kill of her own to give Aledo its first lead of the set at 10-9.

Midlothian seesawed back in front 12-11, but back-to-back kills from Elms pushed Aledo ahead 13-12 and another point made it 14-12, forcing the Lady Panthers to use a timeout. The stoppage of play helped the visitors, who responded from the brief intermission with a 7-0 run to claim a 19-14 lead. Aledo could not creep any closer than four points the rest of the set.

The teams moved into the fourth set and Aledo again faced a significant early deficit of 6-1. Each time the Ladycats pulled to within four points, the Lady Panthers had the answers and ultimately pulled out the set to force a decisive fifth set.

Aledo managed to stay within three to four points for most of the sudden-death set with Midlothian. Todd hammered home kills on consecutive points to cut the deficit to 13-9 late, but the visitors scored the last two points to seal the comeback victory.

Todd led the way offensively with 17 kills to go with 19 digs while Elms had a strong presence up front with 12 kills and five blocks. Ella Meador anchored the back line defense with a team-high 25 digs, along with four service aces, while senior Kenrie Pruitt recorded 15 digs. Lowe and Isbell each added three blocks while setters Ava Reding and Sophie Frank had 27 and 14 assists, respectively. Tatum Kosse also chipped in with six kills.

Aledo (11-7) will take the court again in the Arlington Classic Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Ladycats will open with pool play matches against Richardson Pearce and Amarillo.

Ladycats perform well in Northwest tournament

The Ladycats continued tournament competition on the volleyball court over the Aug. 23 weekend in the Northwest ISD Volleyball Classic. Overall, the Ladycats went 5-3 and finished in the top eight teams in a field crowded with strong competition.

The Ladycats (11-7) recorded a pair of straight-sets wins over Denton Braswell (25-12 and 25-16) and El Paso Coronado (25-11 and 25-23) on the first day of action along with a tight loss to Colleyville in straight sets (19-25 and 23-25).

On the second day of the tournament, Aledo lost against Trophy Club Byron Nelson (15-25 and 19-25), but bounced back to record sweeps over Missouri City Ridge Point (25-21 and 25-22) and Haslet Eaton (25-19 and 25-20). The Ladycats stumbled in two close, three-set matches against Class 6A foes Rockwall (25-21, 23-25 and 23-25) and Lewisville Hebron (26-24, 22-25 and 21-25) but not for a lack of effort.

Junior outside hitter Alyssa Todd tallied 34 kills combined in those two matches alone while Kenrie Pruitt registered 36 digs across the two final matches. Meanwhile, Ava Reding and Sophie Frank combined for 73 total assists against Rockwall and Hebron.

Through the duration of the tournament, Todd led in the kills department with 83 followed by senior Kinley Elms (58), Haley Lowe (48) and Tatum Kosse (32). Todd, Reding and Pruitt each recorded four service aces, while Logyn Denbow and Sophie Frank added two aces apiece. Reding finished with a total of 123 assists, while Frank compiled 83 assists.

Defensively, Pruitt led the charge on the back line with 97 total digs while Ella Meador compiled 83 digs. Todd added 65 digs while Denbow and Frank finished with 59 and 50 digs, respectively. Kosse also contributed with 42 digs. On the front line, Lowe led the way with 22 blocks, Lily Lufkin had 19 blocks, Elms finished with 15 blocks, Ella Isbell registered 10 blocks and Kosse had nine stuffs.