Win streak now at eight for Ladycat netters

In athletics there’s a great deal of emphasis placed on a team getting hot at just the right time. Preferably, a team will begin to peak just as the regular season is drawing to a close with the playoffs lurking around the corner.

Aledo’s Ladycat volleyball team appears to be nearing their peak right on schedule. With back-to-back wins over Granbury and Azle over the last week, Aledo (27-8 overall, 8-1 in District 5-5A) has won eight matches in a row as they continue to stake their claim atop the district standings.

The Ladycats traveled to Granbury on Friday, Oct. 6, to take on the second-place Lady Pirates in a match to determine who would be the top seed in District 5-5A. Aledo pounced on the opportunity as they took the match 3-1 by scores of 25-14, 22-25, 25-14, and 25-18.

Returning home for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Ladycats trounced Azle on Tuesday, Oct. 10, with a clean sweep in the match. Aledo bullied the Lady Hornets like an older sibling, taking all three sets by scores of 25-13, 25-19, and 25-20. 

Vivian Parker continues to bludgeon opposing defenses at the net since returning from injury. Aledo’s sniper racked up 33 kills in the wins over Granbury and Azle. Kinley Elms posted 26 kills of her own as the pair led the way for Aledo’s offense.

At the service line, the Ladycats strung together arguably their best matches of the season. Parker tallied five aces. Morgan Estevez put up four of her own. Kenrie Pruitt tacked on a trio of aces. Logyn Denbow, Sophia Frank, and Ella Meador each scored a pair of aces, as well.

It’s no surprise, but Haley Lowe picked up six more blocks at the net from her middle blocker position. Inching ever closer to the century mark, she now has 92 blocks for the season. Elms earned four blocks of her own. Ella Isbell’s defense was on point on Tuesday, as she earned three blocks in the one match.

Pruitt led the way for the Ladycats in digs as she picked up 32 in the last week. Parker added 29 of her own. Denbow and Meador rounded out the top performers in the digs department, as they collected 20 and 18 digs, respectively.

With four matches left in the regular season schedule, Ava Reding is sneaking up on 1,000 assists for the season. In the last week she added 76 to her season total of 810. At her current pace of 8.2 assists per set with four matches left on the schedule, she will end the year somewhere between 908-974.

As the season winds to a close, the Ladycats get back to work on Friday, Oct. 13, when they host Wichita Falls Rider (11-13 overall, 1-7 in districts). That match is slated to begin at 6 pm.