The Aledo Ladycats volleyball team started the season strong against a formidable foe in front of their home crowd Monday night, Aug. 12. Aledo boasted a high-quality defense, dominant stretches of play on the front line, and a bevy of backend gems en route to a sweep over the Argyle Liberty Christian Lady Warriors, the defending state champions of TAPPS Class 5A, by a final score of 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20.
“Overall, we’ve got some veterans who have been playing a long time, and I didn’t give them an easy start to the season, playing the defending state champions of TAPPS in 5A,” Ladycats head coach Claire Gay said. “They’ve got great outside hitters and good lefties up front, but I thought our girls executed their roles well.”
Liberty Christian trimmed the deficit to a single point on numerous occasions in the opening set. Each time the visitors drew within a point, though, Aledo saw one of its own step up to create breathing room.
An emphatic kill and block on back-to-back possessions from senior middle Haley Lowe gave Aledo a 17-15 margin. Later in the set, senior Kinley Elms recorded a block and kill, followed by a kill from junior Tatum Kosse, that extended the advantage to 23-20. A service error by Liberty Christian and another Aledo kill ended the victorious first set.
Ella Isbel, Elms, and Todd peppered the court with a myriad of big kills in the second set, but not without help from their back line defenders. Seniors Logyn Denbow, Ella Meador, Kenrie Pruitt, and Ava Reding dug up several high-level attacks from Liberty Christian’s front line players that energized both the team and the crowd.
“It’s a big momentum mover and helps the team get more excited about everything we do,” Pruitt said. “It helps us move forward in the match and succeed. Getting a big dig feels amazing and having your hitter put the ball away is why I play volleyball – I love that thrill.”
The hustle, effort and accurate passing from the Ladycats’ back line set up plenty of attacking opportunities that Aledo’s hitters took full advantage of in the second set and kept the attacking hands of Aledo sizzling.
“My teammates help me keep the confidence and consistency in place,” Todd said. “I think we really communicate well on the court and it helps us get through runs the opposition may have.”
Todd and Elms combined for a late flurry of kills while Meador and Reding produced a pair of defensive gems to close out the second set.
Aledo and Liberty Christian competed closely in the opening stages of the third set just as the teams did in the previous two, but the Ladycats surged ahead 20-13 on a 5-0 run that forced the Lady Warriors to burn a timeout. Then, the visitors put together a 4-0 spurt of their own to get back into the set, trailing by just three at 20-17, which forced Aledo to use its first timeout of the match.
“We just need to be a little bit more consistent up front and work on our serve-receive passing,” Gay said. “Overall, our setters did a good job, but we just need to work on certain spots in our rotation, get back in the gym and get after it.”
Although Aledo’s serve-receive and front line attacks were not consistently perfect throughout, the Ladycats had more than enough left in the tank to finish the job. Isbell pounded the ball into the court on one possession and followed that up with a suffocating block on the next point that gave Aledo breathing room at 23-17. Liberty Christian managed to claw back to within 23-20, but Meador’s ace on the decisive 25th point clinched the match for the home team.
Elms and Todd led the charge for Aledo with nine kills apiece. Todd added 14 digs and three blocks while Elms poured in a pair of blocks. Lowe was a defensive stalwart with six blocks to go with six kills while Isbell was impactful up front with seven kills.
Reding shined for the Ladycats with 10 digs and 16 assists while Kailey Hamilton registered 11 assists of her own. Pruitt and Meador finished the match with 14 and six digs, respectively, while the latter added two service aces.
Tournament season is up next for Aledo and a chance to begin finding their identity as a collective unit.
“We are working together and doing so staying together and unified as a team,” Gay said. “This weekend, we are really going to hone in and establish what we want our image to be this season.”
The Ladycats are competing in the Katy Tournament this weekend.
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