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Volleyball: Flower Mound keeps pace for first
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
FLOWER MOUND - Flower Mound's volleyball team took care of business Tuesday, keeping pace with Coppell for first place in District 5-5A after securing a home sweep against Lewisville (25-18, 25-14, 25-13).
The win allowed the Lady Jaguars (5-1) to keep pace with the Cowgirls at the top after Coppell (5-1) avenged a previous loss against Hebron Tuesday (25-15, 29-27, 21-25, 15-25, 15-10).
Flower Mound got out to quick starts in each set, securing early leads of 10-4 in Game 1, 11-6 in Game 2 and 12-5 in Game 3.
Jordan Anderson led Flower Mound with 16 kills and seven digs, while Molly Werts and Erin Layne had 14 and 13 assists, respectively. Madeline Marr paced the team with five aces, while Logan Kelly chipped in six digs and Lauren Cox had four blocks.
"We're making progress," said Libby Rodriguez, Lewisville head coach. "I just got through telling the girls that our lowest level of play tonight was higher than it usually is. Each time we play, we are raising that bar a little bit and are getting better one day at a time. But we knew it was going to take time. It might take some sacrifices this year to get better next year, but they're getting it and are starting to figure it out. It's great to hang in there in this district with the best in the state."
The Lady Jaguars went on a steady run in the first set behind the service of Anderson, who helped Flower Mound on a 7-0 spurt to lead 11-4.
Later in the set, consecutive block-kills from Portia Okafor gave Lewisville confidence and pulled the Farmers within 23-17. However, the Lady Jaguars closed the set with kills from Cox and Briana Allmon.
"[Okafor] has gotten better every single day I've been here," Rodriguez said. "When I got here, I thought it could be a work in progress. But she's a great kid and has been phenomenal for us. We've been working on building confidence in her because athletically she can hang with anyone. Now we want to feed her. Every chance we get, we want to get her the ball."
In the second set, Flower Mound gained a 12-7 margin, but Lewisville - which had multiple digs off the floor to prolong points - received an ace from Ellena Bailey to halt the momentum and prompt a Lady Jaguars timeout at 13-10.
"Lewisville was scrappy and was fighting hard," Brinkman said. "They played with a lot of heart and I think sometimes our girls were a little taken back by how many balls they were returning. But we kept fighting too and made the adjustments."
Marr was able to close out the set for Flower Mound with aces on the final two points.
"Maddie had five aces and that's why we have her in that rotation," Brinkman said. "She can put the ball in different spots and mix up a team, and her ball is really tough to read."
Flower Mound continued to apply the pressure early in the third set, racing out to a 12-6 margin, and never saw its lead trimmed to fewer than six.
"The third game was our best game and the girls that came in showed that intensity is what can really pull through for us," Brinkman said. "They played with heart and stayed disciplined and the score showed that. Even though it wasn't our typical lineup, we were playing our best in that game."
Brinkman credited the play of Mikayla Grill and Hailey Morin, in particular.
"Mikayla did a great job playing all the way around on the outside spots," Brinkman said. "And Hailey stayed disciplined on defense in the back. Amy Sawyer also came in and played consistently. She always works hard and you know what you are going to get."
The district title may well have been on the line Friday when the Lady Jaguars went on the road against Coppell. The Cowgirls won the first matchup Sept. 25 (26-24, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23) and also won Friday (18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7).
Flower Mound continues at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against Hebron.
"The kids are excited about it and we know what we have to do to win," Brinkman said. "We're excited for the challenge and it's definitely a match that is going to prepare us for the playoffs."
Lewisville continues at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Denton Ryan.
"The mental state of our team has really improved," Rodriguez said. "They're positive and keep going and keep fighting. Our goal for this match was to stay on our feet and make them earn every point. I think they did a great job in the second match of keeping the ball off the floor. Now we need to work on the easy ones when we are right there. Sometimes, it's almost like they have too much time."
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