BANGS – After the season-opening match slipped away in five sets Tuesday night at Coleman, the Bangs Lady Dragons targeted their first volleyball victory of the season Friday afternoon in the home opener. The visiting Albany Lady Lions had other ideas, however, and kept Bangs winless with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-17 decision.
“I thought the girls played really well and we’ve improved tremendously since Tuesday,” said Lady Dragons second-year head coach Cheyanne Lovelady. “I think we started really strong in all three games. We just fell off at the end of the games because we got tired and our communication started to lag and we made some mistakes we should never make. Other than that I thought they played really well.”
Maggie Morales paced Bangs with eight kills followed by five from Halle Lance. Avery Bierra served three aces, while the defensive effort was sparked by 17 digs from Skylar Hutchins.
In the opening set, a block by Brooklyn Mullins allowed Bangs to draw even with Albany at 7, but the Lady Lions answered with the next five points. The Lady Dragons crept within 15-13 after a block by Kylie Salazar, but Albany again fired back with seven of the next nine points to open a 22-15 cushion.
The second set saw the Lady Dragons grab a 6-5 lead after a spike by Alyssia Patrick, while another spike from Mullins later made the score 7-6. Albany regained control, however, scoring nine of the next 10 points to open a 15-8 advantage.
Bangs led by as many as three points midway through the final set. Patrick, Salazar and an ace from Madi Martin allowed the Lady Dragons to open a 15-12 lead, but Albany charged back to knot the score at 16. Tied again at 17, the Lady Lions reeled off the final eight points of the set to complete the sweep.
Through two matches thus far, Lovelady said, “I’m super impressed with my back row defense all around, but we need to improve our blocking in the front row. Our hitters are getting more consistent and I want them to continue on with that.”
Bangs (0-2) will attempt to secure its first victory at Junction at 1 p.m. Saturday
As for Saturdays’s goal, Lovelady said, “I definitely want to see us starting and finishing stronger. We also need to play with more enthusiasm, more communication, and go out there with more confidence knowing we can beat whoever we come up against.”
