It may have taken a roller coaster ride to get there, but the Brownwood Lady Lions secured their sixth victory in the last seven volleyball matches Tuesday night at Warren Gym, fending off the Bangs Lady Dragons in a four-set 25-13, 16-25, 25-19, 29-27 decision.
“The girls are being really coachable,” Lady Lions second-year head coach Cheyanne Lovelady said of the recent run of success. “They are invested, they’re listening to what I have to say and they’re going on the floor and performing. I’m really proud of the girls for the fight that they showed tonight. We had some things we were struggling with, but the girls still stepped up and competed.”
Despite, the loss, Bangs head coach Colleen Westfall feels the Lady Dragons are continuing to take steps in the right direction.
“I’m proud of how the girls played,” Westfall said. “We’ve been working on specific tings and the girls did a great job of executing them tonight. We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but I’m pleased with the progress we saw within the game, and that to me is a win.”
The performance for Brownwood (11-10) featured a season-high 17 kills from Aniah Hines followed by Aubrie Felux with 15, Miranda Northcutt with eight, Demayha Hooker with three, Trinity Roberts with two, and Jentry Coalson and Sara Stubblefield with one each.
Icess Hall dished out 24 assists trailed by Hines with 16, and Roberts with one
Maddi Scott served a team-best three aces with two each coming from Felux, Hall, Stubblefield and Roberts, and one from Hines.
Defensively, Stubblefield chalked up 15 digs trailed by Scott with 12, Felux with 10, Hines with eight, and Hooker with one.
At the net, Hines logged four blocks followed by two each from Roberts and Hooker, and one from Northcutt.
Bangs (10-11) was sparked on the offensive end by Kasey Solis with seven kills along with Neeley Bradley with five, Cameryn Harmon with three, Ava Boren and Ashlynn Sliger with two each, and Dyan McCurdy and Cloey Petty with one apiece.
Bradley recorded 11 assists while Boren contributed seven and each served an ace, while Solis finished with a team-best two aces.
On the defensive end, Petty and Julianna Ethridge led the way with 11 digs each trailed by Boren and Justice Baker with eight apiece, Boren and Harmon both with five, and McCurdy with four.
Sliger registered three blocks at the net, Bradley secured two, and Solis and Boren both finished with one.
The Lady Lions and Lady Dragons took turns dominating the first two sets, while Brownwood opened a 16-9 advantage in the third that Bangs cut to 21-19. But three straight kills from Felux and a hitting error by the Lady Dragons put Brownwood back on top.
In the fourth set, Bangs owned a 10-4 edge that Brownwood trimmed to 16-14. The Lady Dragons then established a 21-16 cushion before the Lady Lions stormed back for a 22-21 lead. The serving of Stubblefield, along with kills from Northcutt, Felux and Hines aided in the rally.
A Brownwood hitting error, followed by a block from Sliger and ace from Boren, pushed Bangs back in front 24-22. But Felux delivered a spike and a controversial call at the net went in Brownwood’s favor, as the ball was ruled not to have hit a Lady Lion twice, which resulted in a 24-all tie.
The Lady Lions went up 25-24 on a bad pass on Bangs’ side, but hit the ball into the net for a 25-all tie. Felux followed with a kill for Brownwood, but another hitting miscue made the score 26-all. Bangs then surged back in front, 27-26, on a mishit by the Lady Lions, who then knotted the score at 27 on a kill by Hines, who went on to secure the final two points for Brownwood as well with spikes off Lady Dragon defenders.
“I didn’t have any time outs so that was pretty nerve-racking,” Lovelady said of the Lady Lions’ comeback. “But I feel like the girls proved that they can come back from anything. The whole set we played pretty inconsistent but toward the end we fought and found a way.”
Bangs will take the weekend off and be back in action Tuesday as it hosts Rochelle.
“Right now I feel really good where we’re sitting,” Westfall said. “We have a few tough games left before district, some hard teams coming up, and we have a few more things to work on. But by the time district and the playoffs roll around, we should be hitting our peak.”
The Lady Lions, meanwhile, will attempt to continue their improved play at Wall at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Lovelady further said of the Lady Lions’ positive fortunes over the last few outings, “Having one of our outside hitters out, we’re using several different people in that position. That’s been difficult at times for us, but we’re improving on that. One big thing that makes a difference is we’re able to run different offenses and different defenses, so we’re we able to change and adjust to whatever teams have.”
