A full slate of non-district volleyball Tuesday night included two five-set thrillers, an all-Killeen ISD matchup and a road sweep.
And it also featured four wins by Killeen ISD teams.
At Eagle Gym, Ellison hosted crosstown rival Killeen in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd full offans from both teams and came away with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-11 victory.
At Chaparral, the Lady Bobcats (8-8) welcomed Class 6A Copperas Cove and twice staved off defeat to force a winner-take-all, first-to-15 fifth set. Ultimately, the home team dug deep and prevailed 20-25, 28-26, 19-25, 25-18, 15-13.
Harker Heights also went the distance Tuesday night, traveling to Belton and rallying for a 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11 triumph.
And fresh off a tournament title in Rockdale over the weekend, Shoemaker (8-7) pushed its winning streak to seven in a row with a sweep of Lampasas.
While no longer in the same district, the Lady Eagles (8-13) and Lady Roos (6-10) certainly put forth effort reminiscent of a league clash.
“Today’s atmosphere was fantastic,” Ellison coach Shirelle Givens said. “This is a crosstown rival game, and it’s still a big one. We like to play against each other just to keep that hometown rivalry going for the community.”
Mid-to-late set runs propelled the Lady Eagles to victories in Games 1 and 2, and they pulled away early in the third set to close out the win.
Givens lauded the performances of setters Chanelle Cancel and Bryanna Bowman, and sophomore outside hitter Ja’Lya Swiney
“They have done a really good job of leading the team,” Givens said. “They do a good job of not only leading the offense but also letting the defense know where they need to be. And, of course, you have good qualities in all of our players.”
Killeen head coach Johnetta Preston saw some qualities in her team that she liked as well, though noted, there will be some things to fine-tune as the non-district schedule continues.
“Of course, we didn’t come out of here with the win we wanted, but they did some good things and we see what we have to work on,” said Preston, who got a team high five kills off the right hand of QuDeja Taplin, four kills apiece from Payton DuPont and Ariana Brooks, six assists from Olivia Harris and seven digs from Alicia Gomez.
“It’s always good coming to play Ellison,” Preston added. “That energy from the stands and having a full crowd, letting the girls play in that before we get to district also helps.”
Speaking of help, Amaya Rich offered up 22 assists in the Lady Knights’ win over the Lady Tigers. Benefiting from those were hitters Masya McGinnis (nine kills), Tiarra Harris (eight kills) and Daejah Edwards (six kills). Rich added nine kills of her own to enhance the attack, and Mileyana Hopkins produced seven blocks.
The Lady Bobcats’ roller coaster match against Cove (13-6) had plenty of emotions and clutch play from Chaparral as it orchestrated its multi-layered comeback.
"So proud of these girls. We had been looking forward to this game because we know Cove always brings big blocks and heavy hitters, and we love the competition," Chaparral coach Sarah Neal said. "We have been working hard all offseason and non-district on our game and mindset, and this game was a sure sign that it's paying off."
The Lady Bobcats twice overcame one-set deficits –– brushing off an eight-point disadvantage in Game 2 and taking Game 4 to even the match at 2-all and send it to a fifth.
Alondra Rosario came up with 37 digs, Mikayla Gray landed 18 kills, Kemani Washington had 10 kills, Aryanna Gonzalez chipped in 18 assists and Madison Edwards had seven blocks for Chaparral.
More volleyball is quickly approaching as tournament play beckons KISD’s five teams Thursday-Saturday this week.
Ellison is at the Johnson City tournament, Harker Heights is entered in the Stephenville draw, Killeen is at the Hill Country tournament, Chaparral at the China Spring tournament and Shoemaker heads to the Aggieland Showdown.
The Flickr album Volleyball 2024 can be viewed here https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBE9oP and will be updated throughout the season.
