Marble Falls volleyball beats Lampasas
The Marble Falls High School volleyball team swept Lampasas 25-20, 25-13, 25-15 Sept. 23 for its first District 24-4A win of the season.
“It was a huge win, our first district win,” head coach Zoey Beard-Hanrahan said. “It feels so good. The girls deserve it.”
The Lady Badgers took a 4-1 lead in the first set before sophomore Brighton Bernard and junior Katie Terrell added kills to get the Lady Mustangs back in it. Other contributors were sophomore Breanna Wilde, seniors Kate McCary and Payton Dunk, and junior Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa. Setters Tessie Bowen, a senior, and Hannah Welch, a junior, continued to match hitters to blockers and put Lampasas on the defensive. It helped that Dunk found holes in the defense and used dinks to score points and that hitters spotted angles and mixed in cross court spikes with down-the-line kills.
Marble Falls raced to a 9-3 lead in the second set thanks to Mitchell-Ochoa scored points on aces, kills and directional tips, Bernard’s kills and Lampasas errors.
But the Lady Badgers closed the gap to 7-9 and 8-10 before Dunk and Mitchell-Ochoa scored on dinks to start a 6-2 run that only extended after the Lampasas timeout.
By the time the Lady Badgers scored, Marble Falls led 23-11 with Terrell adding aces and kills from McCary, Mitchell-Ochoa and Bernard. Dunk won the set on a kill.
The third set began with a Wilde kill, a Welch ace and a Wilde block for a 4-1 lead. Marble Falls led 10-3, 13-4,14-8, 17-10 and 20-11. Wilde got her team to match point thanks to a kill from the back row and McCary ended the match with a kill.
“Kate is such a team player,” Beard-Hanrahan said. “I love her. I’m sad I only get to coach her one year. We put it all together in the second and third sets. I was happy for her.”
Beard-Hanrahan called only one timeout, during the first set, where she challenged her players to show the work they’d been doing in practices.
“Find a way to get the ball over and let them make the mistake,” she recalled saying. “Lock in and focus on what we want. In the second and third sets, we showed what kind of team we are. After that we were able to lock down and do what we wanted to do. Those runs showed this is the team we can be.”
She noted not one Lady Mustang stood out over anyone else. That illustrates that it was a complete team win.
“We have players on my team who are dynamic players,” she said. “Our setters did a great job of spreading the ball and swinging and blocking and everyone got a taste of putting the ball down. I’m glad we came out with the win. I thought my serve-receive looked really solid.”
Beard-Hanarahan noted the Lady Mustangs had shown they have what it takes to succeed in this district, pointing out they prepare daily for this grind. And she added they know the crucial stretch they’re in beginning with a road trip to Taylor at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. The subvarsities play at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow.
“I think we’ve been really focused on what kind of team we want to be at all times,” Beard-Hanrahan said. “You can see the determination of wanting to be that team and making that step. I want our side to be as clean as possible.”
