Two teams looking to halt postseason droughts in 2024 took part in a see-saw battle Tuesday evening at Warren Gym, as the Brownwood Lady Lions were able to rally past the Early Lady Horns for a 25-17, 17-25, 23-25, 25-10, 15-13 triumph in the volleyball season opener for both squads.
“I thought we did really well for the first game,” said Lady Lions first-year head coach Cheyanne Lovelady. “We had a lot of ups and downs, I had a lot of different girls on the court playing in different positions, so the girls adjusted really well. The things that I threw at them and the things we’re trying to implement, they did a really good job and they were being very coachable.”
Lady Horns head coach Missy Vaughn said, “It was a good showing, a good match up all the way around for everybody from our freshmen to our seniors. The chemistry we showed tonight is what we’re building off of and hopefully we can keep our momentum from tonight through the rest of the season.”
Brownwood was sparked by its play at the net as the Lady Lions recorded 23 blocks – seven by Aniah Hines, six each by Miranda Northcutt and Trinity Roberts, and two apiece from Hannah Deen and Demayha Hooker.
“Our blocking is going to be something that’s really strong for us,” Lovelady said. “At the beginning of the match our timing was off because Early runs a higher offense, a slower offense, but we adjusted well and were able to come back from that.”
Also on the defensive side of the ball, Deen and Maddi Scott registered six digs apiece for Brownwood, Aubrie Felux notched four, Hines and Roberts collected two each, and Icess Hall and Jakayla Peek were both credited with one.
Offensively for Brownwood, Deen tallied a team-high eight kills trailed by six from Felux, five from Northcutt, four from Hines and one apiece from Roberts and Jentry Coalson.
Hines also served six aces followed by Hall with four, Scott with three, and Deen, Felux and Sara Stubblefield with two each.
Hall dished out 10 assists, Hines added seven and Coalson recorded three.
Leading the charge offensively for Early were Karley Smith with six kills, Ellie Shea with five, Aubrie Devillier with four, Jensyn Rasor and Tyley Simmons with three apiece, and Grey Pruett with one.
Pruett distributed 17 assists and Gabby Benson and Cassidy Frerichs added one apiece, while Pruett and Smith both served three aces and Simmons, Devillier and Benson each contributed one.
Defensively, Devillier’s 13 digs were a team-best trailed by Smith with 11, Pruett with five, Simmons with two and Frerichs with one.
Rasor and Simmons recorded Early’s blocks.
In the fifth and final tiebreaking set, Early surged out to a 12-8 advantage which forced Brownwood into a timeout. The Lady Lions used to a Lady Horns’ service error to close within 12-9, then an Early hitting error and a kill from Deen brought the Lady Lions within 12-11. Another Early hitting miscue resulted in a 12-all tie, and a kill from Hines pushed Brownwood in front, 13-12. The Lady Lions then committed their own hitting miscue for a 13-all tie, but Hines delivered another go-ahead spike, and Early was unable to get Deen’s final serve back over the net as Brownwood claimed the two-point victory.
The Lady Lions dominated the fourth set from start to finish to force a tiebreaker after the Brownwood squandered a 23-20 lead in the third set. Early tallied the final five points on a Brownwood hitting error, a kill from Shea, an ace from Devillier, a kill from Devillier, and a tip by Smith.
“I’m most proud of the way we were down in that third set and came back, chipped away at the points and won it,” Vaughn said. “But we still need a little bit more control of the ball and to work on some of the little mistakes we made.”
The Lady Lions won by a comfortable eight-point margin in the opener, but the Lady Horns grabbed a 7-2 lead in the second set and Brownwood, which was experimenting with a number of different potential line-ups, was never able to gain its footing.
“Our younger girls have a lot of talent, but they’re still trying to figure out where they fit in working with the older girls,” Lovelady said. “They get a little nervous and don’t want to overstep their boundaries, but I need them to have some confidence and we’re working on that. Some of our goals were communication, being able to work side by side no matter who was on the court, and them being extremely coachable, and they’ve grown a lot in that area.”
Brownwood (1-0) will be back in action at the Abilene Bev Ball Classic over the weekend while Early (0-1) will test its mettle at the Veribest tournament.
