Area teams win opening games

Posted

Three area teams played their first game of the 2018 volleyball season this week with much success.

Gonzales topples Ingram in five sets
The Lady Apaches held their season opener at home Tuesday afternoon, with the varsity squad knocking off Ingram in five sets (20,25, 25-16, 17-25, 25-19, 18-16).
“[Tuesday] was the test,” Gonzales head coach Sam White said. “Against Ingram, the ladies showed so much heart, even after losing the first game they never gave up. They battled.”
By the end of the game, Hayley Sample came away with 14 kills and three blocks, Rachel Staggs had six kills and one block, Maura Garcia had four kills and one block, Chelsea Hastings had nine kills and one block, Abbie Belin had two kills and two blocks and Libero Sam Barnick had three digs and three aces.
“I’m so proud of the girls, Ingram had a good team,” White explained. “They tipped on us a lot and tried to shut our middles down. However, our team adjusted. We’ve not done that in the past.”
“We are not used to playing five games,” White gushed. It was awesome. Even in the fifth game we were down by several points, 9-6, in a game that ends at 15. We battled back to tie it up. There were four lead changes. Winning 18-16 was a huge way to start the season.
“My two seniors, Maura Garcia and Chelsea Hastings had huge games. Junior Rachel Staggs and sophomore Hayley Sample hit the ball well. I cannot say enough about Kiley Allen and her ability to run the offense. It was fun to watch them play well.”
Allen ended her night with two kills and 23 assists.
The junior varsity team lost their game in three sets while the freshmen team won in two.

Nixon-Smiley sweeps in game opener
Nixon-Smiley traveled to Yorktown for their season opener, beating the Wildcats in three sets, (25-16, 25-23, 25-20). The Lady Mustangs are competing in the Shiner Tournament this weekend, then travel to Kenedy for an afternoon game scheduled for 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Lady Cardinals open season with win against Yoakum
It took four sets to get there but the Shiner St. Paul Lady Cardinals opened their season with a victory on the road against the Yoakum Lady Bulldogs (25-11. 25-20, 18-25, 25-15).
Leading the way in the stat book were Grace Irvin with six kills, two blocks, two digs and three aces, Riley Johnson with three kills, 13 digs and eight aces, Gracey Novosad with six kills, 13 assists, two blocks, five digs and one ace, Delynn Pesek with six kills and seven digs, Mallory Pokluda with five kills, five digs and four aces and Christine Wagner with five kills, one block, 20 assists and three aces.
The junior varsity team lost in three sets (7-25, 25-22, 15-8) and the freshmen team also lost in three (17-25, 25-15, 15-9).
The varsity squad travels to Bellville Faith Academy on Friday and Saturday for a tournament before traveling to Rice for a game on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Comments