The Brownwood Lady Lions volleyball season reached its conclusion Friday afternoon at Warren Gym with a 25-19, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16 loss to District 6-4A rival Mineral Wells as the Lady Rams secured the league’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Hannah Deen led the Lady Lion attack with 10 kills followed by Aniah Hines with nine, Ibis Alvarado with eight, Aubrie Felux with six, Ava Choate with four, Miranda Northcutt with three, and Kassidy Wooten with two.
Alvarado dished out 26 assists while Wooten chipped in a pair and Hines was credited with one.
Felux served three aces while Deen, Alvarado, and Wooten each notched a pair and Choate contributed one.
Defensively, Wooten logged 26 digs trailed by Molly Oliver with 11, Choate with 10, Dean with nine, Felux and Alvarado with eight apiece, and Hines with a pair.
At the net, Northcutt collected three blocks, Hines and Deen recorded two each, and Choate, Felux and Alvarado finished with one apiece.
Friday’s match marked the end of the careers for Brownwood’s three seniors – Choate, Wooten, and Alvarado, who played for the first time in district competition after suffering a knee injury.
“All three of them, I’m really lucky to have had them in the program and they’re my first freshmen that I coached all four years,” said Lady Lions fourth-year head coach Allison Smith. “They mean the world to me.
“Kassidy Wooten has been a starter for the last three years on varsity. She has been a really solid player for us, one of the most consistent liberos that will probably ever come through the program. She’s just all over the court and I don’t know how she gets most of the passes that she does, and she’s a great leader for our program.
“Ava Choate has been a starter for me for the last two years. She’s a great, enthusiastic player. She’s a great offensive player, great defensive player, just all the way around. She’s been really strong for us and a great leader for our program, not only on the court but away from the court in school as well.
“Ibis Alvarado has missed our district season. We were hoping she could play on Senior Night so we could honor her. She’s been a big person we’ve missed in district. She’s been our vocal captain, our enthusiastic person on the court, and our quarterback on the court as our as 5-1 setter. It was a really big loss for us, she’s such a great athlete.”
Brownwood finished the season with a 4-23 overall record, an 0-8 district mark and losses in the last 10 matches of the 2022 campaign. The Lady Lions missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
