Lady Cards take down Gonzales in tight 3-set match

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GONZALES — For the second year in a row, the Shiner St. Paul Lady Cardinals took down Gonzales in three sets, only this time the task was a bit tougher as they won (25-14, 25-20, 27-25).

Last year, the Lady Cards knocked off Gonzales (25-18, 25-8, 25-20). But this season, it took some extra points to get the job done.

“That first set, [Gonzales] made more unforced errors,” St. Paul head coach Kayla Natho said. “Once they kind of settled in, they put the ball in play more and made us actually play, that’s kind of where we struggled a little bit.”

“They played and they felt like they’ve accomplished some things,” Gonzales head coach Bernice Vogt said of her athletes. “Even though we didn’t get the win, we played well and we didn’t let [Shiner St. Paul] come in here and beat the heck out of us.”

Tied at 8-8 in the first set, The Lady Cardinals were able to take advantage of multiple unforced errors by Gonzales, going on a 6-1 run before a Lady Apaches’ called timeout. After the timeout, St. Paul continued their run, scoring the next six out of eight points to go up 21-11 before another timeout. St. Paul finished out the set winning 25-14.

“We missed too many [serves],” Voigt explained. “[Missed more] in the second game.”

The game was closer in the second, with the Lady Apaches even taking a 20-19 lead. But a mistake on an attack, plus aces from Delynn Pesek and later a kill from Gracey Novosad gave the Lady Cardinals the win as they scored six straight to take the second set.

The third set was an even closer one as the Lady Apaches improved their serving, making just three serve mistakes.

Down 23-20, with Chelsie Hastings back to serve, Gonzales scored four straight points, getting kills from Hailey Riojas and Rachel Staggs to go up 24-23. Shiner St. Paul then scored twice to back up 25-24 before making a mistake on a serve. Then a kill from Grace Irvin gave them the 26-25 lead before a violation gave them the 27-25 win.

Both head coaches touted their team’s efforts and their “no-give-up attitude.”

“That’s just how those girls are, they’re not going to quit,” Natho said of her players, specifically on their efforts during the last set. “They’re not going to just roll over and give the game away. They’re competitors and they go out there every single point and they just do whatever they had to do.”

“We still have lots of little things to work on,” Voigt noted. “After the first game we figured out ‘hey we can play with them,’ and they never quit. That last game, they fought back, it was so close. I’m very proud of them.”

Both teams also came away with many things to work on before the district season began. For the Lady Cardinals, serve-receive was a problem early on, but blocking will be something they key in on during practice.

“We had a hard time timing the blocks tonight,” Natho said, “and we need to learn how to make mid-game adjustments.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Apaches will also be looking at blocking as something to clean up.

“We’re getting better in passing and digging, but our blocking, we got to work on it a lot,” Voigt scouted. “It hurt us tonight. As young as we are, we’re making strides to get better.”

The Gonzales Lady Apaches are travel to Bandera tonight for a 7 p.m. game. Meanwhile, the Lady Cardinals hosted Hallettsville Sacred Heart, but results were unavailable before press time. They are currently scheduled for the Castle Hills Tournament as well.

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