Ladycats drop season opener

Volleyball season is officially underway, and the Aledo Ladycats are on a mission. After a first round exit in 2021 at the hands of Birdville, Aledo is out to prove it is among the best in the state of Texas.

The Ladycats (0-1) faced a tough test to start the season as they played host to the Keller Indians (1-0) who are ranked tenth in class 6A, and a reigning state semifinalist. Despite keeping it close in the first set, Aledo fell to the Indians in straight sets 22-25, 16-25, and 18-25.

The Ladycats will continue their season at 1 p.m. Thursday, August 11 with a tournament at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield.

“They graduated one kid off of that team,” head coach Claire Gay commented after the game. “They came back fully loaded and their libero is amazing, their setter is an all-american, they’ve got a middle that’s unbelievable, and then they’ve got really good pieces around those kids. So we were facing a program that should make a deep run this year.”

Aledo got off to a good start, matching Keller point for point in the first set. At one point, the Ladycats led by six points in the opening frame. However the Indians made a run midway through the set to take a lead, and eventually the win 25-22.

In the second set, the Indians took an early lead and never looked back, outscoring Aledo 13-8 before Gay called a timeout to refocus her team. Keller kept its foot on the gas after the break and took the second set 25-16.

The third set went just as the second, as the Indians again jumped out to a quick lead. Though Aledo fought to the very last point, Keller was just too much for the Ladycats on opening night and completed the match with a 25-18 win in the final frame.

“We competed with them point for point in set one,” Gay said. “There were a couple of errors that could have gone either way. Set two they got more runs than we did, set three the same. We made a lot of errors, they did a lot of good blocking. That’s hard to play against.”

“We’ll see how we come back for the tournament,” Gay continued. “I think overall, we’ll show up tomorrow and have a good practice and prepare for the long play this weekend. August is long. We have a lot of volleyball to play in the month of August.”