The Bangs Lady Dragons qualified for the gold bracket in the Heart of Texas volleyball tournament, but wound up drawing a pair of Class 4A opponents to complete their run Saturday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
The Lady Dragons jumped out to a lead early in the first set against Brownwood, but the Lady Lions rallied to claim a 27-25, 25-18 decision.
Bangs then challenged Snyder in its final match of the tournament, coming up short 25-20, 25-17 to finish the weekend with a 2-3 record.
“The girls played really well against some seriously good competition here,” said Bangs head coach Colleen Westfall. “I’m very happy with the way we played overall. They got to see some big hitters, some different tempo games, tough servers, and a lot of that we needed to see moving forward.”
Against Brownwood, the Lady Dragons grabbed an 11-6 advantage in the opening set. Play at the net by Kasey Solis, Cameryn Harmon and Neely Bradley helped Bangs establish the early lead. Contributors on the defensive end for the Lady Dragons included Julianna Ethridge, Cloey Petty and Kylee Byler.
In the second set, Bangs again hung with Brownwood through the early portions, owning a 12-10 lead before the Lady Lions reeled off eight points in a row to grab control.
In the weekend finale against Snyder, Bangs trailed 10-7 early in the first set but scored four points in a row, aided by Snyder hitting errors, to grab an 11-10 lead. Leading 15-13, the Lady Dragons then fell victim to a small run by the Lady Tigers, who opened a 16-15 lead until a kill by Harmon knotted the score. Later in the set, a kill by Ava Boren brought Bangs within 19-18, and a block from Solis cut Snyder’s lead to 21-20, but the Lady Dragons yielded the final four points.
Bangs trailed 12-5 to start the final set and attempted to claw its way back into contention. A kill and ace from Solis, along with a kill by Dyan McCurdy, brought the Lady Dragons within 16-12. Snyder pushed the lead back to eight points, 20-12, and Bangs got no closer than five, 21-16, on an ace by Boren.
“We didn’t end on the note that we wanted to, but at the same time they’re working hard, learning quickly and executing very well,” Westfall said. “What I’m most excited about is after a game they know exactly what they did wrong and what they need to do to fix it. We’re not getting down on ourselves, we’re moving on the next game.”
The Lady Dragons (6-7) return to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as they welcome Dublin.
