EARLY – The Early Lady Horns put forth perhaps their most complete performance of the season en route to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 sweep of the rival Bangs Lady Dragons in Tuesday’s first of two meetings between the District 8-3A squads.
“The girls came out from the first serve and were ready to play today,” said Early head coach Missy Vaughn. “The transition was great in all three sets, the intensity level was right on the spot from the very beginning.”
Early (12-12, 2-2) was sparked by 11 kills from Taylor Summers, seven each from Carrigan Norris and Hadalee Saunders, five from Jordan Simmons and two from Gabby Leal. Summers also served six aces trailed by Norris and Bethany Tomlinson with three apiece and Grace LaRue with one. Tomlinson also dished out 31 assists.
On the defensive end, Tomlinson notched seven digs followed by Norris and LaRue with six each, Summers with five, Madison Torrez and Mattyson Boswell with three apiece, and Simmons and Saunders with two each. Simmons also collected a pair of block and Saunders was credited with one.
“They came out this game and just all worked well together,” Vaughn said when asked of the most impressive part of the Lady Horns’ performance. “It was all of them, even the ones that came off the bench came in and contributed and that was good to see. We gave up a couple of points on our miscues on serves, but that’s all fixable. The girls will refocus in on that in practice tomorrow, but they played a great game.”
Bangs (11-8, 1-3) received 10 kills from Maggie Morales, seven from Jacee Miller, and one apiece from Rachel Solis and Jadyn Miller. Jacee Miller served a pair of aces and Jadyn Miller added one, while Hadley King logged 13 assists and Neeley Bradley and Laynie Evans contributed one each.
Defensively for the Lady Dragons, Jacee Miller finished with a dozen digs trailed by 11 each from Bradley and Jadyn Miller, seven from King, four from Morales, three from Joey Newton, and one by Evans. Morales, Bradley and Kasey Solis each registered a block.
Trailing 5-3 in the first set after a kill by Jacee Miller, Early swung the momentum behind the serving of Summers – who tallied a pair of aces – and a kill from Leal to build an 8-5 lead. The Lady Horns gradually extended their lead with another ace – this time from LaRue – making the score 18-10. Bangs eventually crept back within five points, 23-18, after another Jacee Miller kill, but the rally was too little, too late.
Knotted at 15 in the second set, Early reeled off seven of the next points to grab a resounding 22-16 advantage. Kills in succession by Norris, Summers and Saunders staked Early to an 18-15 edge. Following a kill by Morales that brought Bangs within two, 18-16, the Lady Horns tacked on four more points on a block and kill by Saunders and two aces from Summers.
In the finale, Early raced out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back. Bangs did close the gap to four points on a few occasions, the last at 21-17 on a kill by Morales. But Saunders contributed a couple more kills down the stretch for the Lady Horns to secure the victory.
Early will attempt to build on Tuesday’s momentum as it visits Eastland at noon Saturday. Meanwhile, Bangs will face another stiff challenge as it travels to Brock at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“We are still taking it one game at a time and the girls know that,” Vaughn said. “We have to work for everything every time we step out on the floor, but as long as we keep this focus and keep setting our goals, everything else will fall into place.”
