Lady Roos cruise in home opener

The Weatherford Lady Kangaroos volleyball program saw changes both in its roster and leadership during the offseason, but came out of the tunnel red hot in its home opener Tuesday night, aug. 13.

The new-look Lady Roos used a speedy offense with precise serving and energetic defense to dominate their first game of the season against the Abilene Lady Eagles in straight sets by a final score of 25-6, 25-12 and 25-18.

“We are a very tiny 6A varsity – our tallest girl is only 6-foot – and we only have one player that tall on the roster,” Lady Roos head coach Courtney Hammett said. “We have to utilize our speed and athleticism, and our pen hitters can jump out of the gym. We just have to move the ball quickly from pen to pen to spread out bigger blocks because, if we run a slow offense, we’re just going to get blocked left and right. I told the girls coming in that the first things I’m going to implement are a faster offense and a more disciplined defense. They have grasped and bought into both. They’ve been super coachable on both sides of the ball – they’ve made it easy on me.”

Weatherford’s up-tempo offense was on full display in the opening set, racing out to an early 7-0 lead that forced Abilene to call a timeout. The Lady Roos, behind quality serves from junior setter Carly Cienega and big kills from senior outside hitter Emma Thornton, stretched the lead to 12-0 before Abilene scored a point. The Lady Eagles burned another timeout after Weatherford’s lead grew to 16-2.

Service aces from senior libero Reagan Rees and junior setter Keegan Hull, coupled with nice plays on the front line by junior middle Kennedy Robert, increased the advantage to 23-5. The first set concluded on a push shot to the corner from Thornton.

The Lady Roos stormed ahead 11-1 to open the second set, and big kills from senior middle Berkley Austin-Roark, Thornton and star junior Claire Conner helped Weatherford nurse its large lead, which grew as large as 19-4. The visitors pulled to within 23-11 late but the home team scored the next two points to go ahead 2-0 in sets.

Hammett had the chance to play several reserves in the third set but sent in her starters late to turn a 19-16 lead into a 25-18 decisive victory. The Lady Roos’ first-year coach, who previously led Godley’s volleyball program for the last four seasons, soaked in the moment and was excited to return to her roots with her family on hand.

“I’m super excited being back in my hometown with my whole family watching, and they haven’t always been able to do that, so it’s a huge blessing,” Hammett said. “The way it all came about, it was totally meant to be. After meeting all these girls and their families and administration just confirmed that everything happened how it should.”

The Lady Roos are eager to continue building momentum throughout the season with a winning mindset.

“We’re excited to prove a lot of people wrong,” Hammett said. “I think we’re very misunderstood by a lot of other programs because of our height, but we can beat those teams we may face in the regular season and the postseason. I think a lot of people have lost faith in not being able to get out of the first round the last couple of years, but we hope to get to that point to prove people wrong – do the unthinkable and beat the unbeatable.”