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Volleyball: Learning curve: Lady Wildcats dodge gritty Lewisville effort for sweep
By Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
The early stages of the Plano Senior volleyball team's Tuesday tilt with Lewisville likely won't be slides to any Lady Wildcats' highlight reel by year's end.
Credit the Lady Farmers for the early frustrations, a hurdle the Lady Wildcats adjusted to and eventually cleared with ease down the stretch in a sweep (25-18, 25-20, 25-14).
"It took us a little while to pick up the rhythm of the match," said Teri Minnis, Plano head coach. "Lewisville doesn't play as fast as we do, so it took us a little bit but once we adjusted, we were fine."
Opening with a kill from junior Kiley Long - a common theme throughout the match - Plano forced the Lady Farmers into an uphill climb by ripping off three runs of four consecutive points. Keeping the errors to a minimum, Long and senior Samantha Seal combined for eight of Plano's 13 third-set kills, while senior Alicia Hinojos chipped in a pair of aces. Unloading reserves late into the lopsided frame, it was a kill from senior Ellen Frawley - the right-side hitter's lone point of the night - that clinched the victory for Plano's ninth win in its past 10 matches.
"We knew what we needed to do and we knew what would come back over the net at us," Minnis said. "We executed that stuff and were able to take care of it."
The two sets that preceded the third frame didn't go quite as easily for the state-ranked Lady Wildcats, with Lewisville game to trade for the first half of each frame.
The first set, in particular, saw the Lady Farmers come out swinging with 11 kills within their first 15 points. The offense was evenly spread by Lewisville, with juniors Ellaina Bailey, Portia Okafor, Kristyn Nicholson and sophomore Caitlin Gulyas each chipping three kills to start.
An ace from Gulyas gave Lewisville a 7-6 lead, with Okafor shortly following to expand that edge to 10-7. Even when the Lady Wildcats rallied to snag the lead, Lewisville answered with a Nicholson kill for a 15-15 tie - one of eight ties in the set.
"After that first game, I felt like we were definitely in it," said Libby Rodriguez, Lewisville head coach. "That's better than we've started in a long time and my girls can surprise people at times. It's just getting them to believe in themselves every point."
Plano responded with a 5-1 run before Long helped the Lady Wildcats distance themselves even further with three kills in a four-point run that turned the aforementioned tie into a 23-17 Plano advantage.
Long led Plano with a match-high 15 kills - six coming in the opening set - while Seal chipped in 11.
"[Long] swings so high over the block that it's difficult for defenses to read against that," Minnis said. "She does a good job and has been doing a good job for us with that."
The second set followed an abbreviated formula from the first, with Lewisville opening a 4-1 lead before errors took their toll in allowing the Lady Wildcats to close the gap.
"It's a rollercoaster and that kind of stuff will happen with a new coach and starting new things," Rodriguez said. "Right now, they're still learning how to maintain a high level of consistency with their play."
Despite receiving four kills from Bailey, who amassed four of her eight kills in the second set, Lewisville surrendered eight of Plano's first 16 points by way of error. Even the blocking front of Okafor, who had a hand in four Lewisville stuffs in the set, wasn't enough to offset the versatile Lady Wildcats attack.
"It's so nice to have a 6-foot-3 middle blocker on your side," Rodriguez said. "[Okafor] does such a great job and we really rely on her defensively, like 'There you go Portia, the net is all yours.'"
Nicholson and Gulyas each led the Lady Farmers with nine kills as Lewisville dropped its third straight match.
Just one chance to tune up for district play remains on each team's schedule, with the Lady Farmers on the road at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Plano East while Plano travels to Flower Mound Marcus for a 6:30 p.m. matchup.
"We're right where we need to be heading into district," Minnis said. "We still have some things we need to work on and we have been, but I feel really confident heading into next Friday."
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