The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team finished off the pre-district schedule on Tuesday with a victory over River Road to give them a 12-14 mark overall heading into District play on Tuesday.
Head Coach Claire Head is in her seventh year at the helm of the Lady Cat volleyball program this year. She is assisted this year by Keith Logan, Suzanne Perry and Emily Castillo and Ashley Dendy. She also has new coaches at the junior high, which are Jade Elliott, D’Erica Smith and Ari Villafranco, who is one of our contracted coaches.
“At the high school level, we’re reaping the benefits of what we were able to take care of at the junior high level,” she explained. “I feel like we’re a little further along, as far as all teams being competitive and not just being competitive at the varsity level. I think it’s good for the junior high girls to have some young coaches over there that have new energy.”
The Lady Cats defeated Alpine, 3-1, in the Bi-district round, of the play-offs, before falling to the eventual state champion Bushland Lady Falcons in the Area round, 0-3.
Coach Head talked about how this team has bounced back from that loss, saying, “This team has really come together, probably better than most teams that I have coached, just because they’re a very, very competitive group. They are goal oriented and if we give them something and talk about it in advance, they have it in their mind and they get that mindset as a group, not just a few of them, all of them.”
She added, “They have really meshed together – it’s tough getting your bi-district trophy and then turning around and having to play a team like Bushland. But, if you never get the opportunity to play a team like that, you don’t really know what it is like to be at that level. I feel like when we started in that game we were stunned, but as it went on, the more they realized, OK. It’s a different pace of game than what we’re used to, but by playing in it we see it and we’re able to adjust.”
Coach Head said this past week was a gauntlet of matches that they added this year to the schedule, which included Plainview, Shallowater and All-Saints.
“I feel like we could have beat Plainview, it’s just getting over that hump of knowing you can beat a team like that,” she explained. “We’ve struggled with Saturdays this season, after Friday night football games and we’re working on that.”
The Lady Cats have nine seniors on this year’s squad.
“Danielle Zapata plays all the way around for us. She sets when she is in the back row, oftentimes I will have her set all the way around,” the coach said. “She doesn’t have a whole lot of height, but she has heart, so she is able to get up and help with some blocks. She is one of our captains and a constant voice; she will be the cheerleader, but she’ll also be quick to get the other girls back in line when they’re getting down on themselves. Emily Champion is another captain for us and is our Libero. When she is on, she is on, but she is her biggest critic. When she just goes out there and plays and is an athlete, she is one of the best Libero’s in the area.”
She added, “Ashtyn Parker is our other captain; she has come a long way from the last two seasons. She has put in work in the off-season and she has strength. She has become one of those kids, where when we need to go to some body, Danielle or Brynna will go to her and she is really good about putting the ball down. She has had to play some middle for us and had done a solid job there. Brynna Ray comes in and plays back row for us and helps Danielle with the setting. She has also helped us tremendously with serve/receive and is a constant in the rotation. She has also stepped up her game defensively to where in the past she struggled a little bit and had trouble adapting to the tips and line hits, but this year she has adapted very quickly and has been able to move.”
“Ellie Lopez is a senior, but just went down for us,” she said. “That hurts, she had been working very hard and we had been planning on her being able to go in and fill spots during district. Gideon Bramwell comes in and helps us on the right side and the outside. She has so much length and gets better day-by-day. She can go in and really get some good blocks and just scare people because of her size. Valeria Cruz is probably the most improved out of all of the girls. She stays late once or twice a week, she has improved with her serve and I feel so confident with her on anywhere on the right side or the outside because she asks so many questions.”
“Tricia Torres and Julie Rodriguez both play back row for us,” Coach Head said. “Julie has been serving in Julie Bownds’ place and has turned into one of our number one servers. She can serve short, which is very hard to do, and she can do it consistently. Everyone is used to a hard serve, and she has a touch to where it looks like it is going to hard, but it floats a little bit and every team we’ve played has struggled with her serve. Tricia is battling an ankle injury, but she has as much power as Ashtyn at times. In the weight room, she is one of the strongest girls we have, and we’ve been working on her, as well as the other back row girls on back row attacking.”
There are two juniors on the team in Madison McNeese and Kaileigh Logan.
“Madison plays all the way around and is our middle; she has come a long way. When she is on, I don’t think there is anyone in the State of Texas that can stop that kid,” Coach Head stated. “Her biggest nemesis is herself, but she has come a long way and doesn’t get in her own head as bad as she used to. I think one of our biggest things with Madison is her back row play and how consistent she has gotten with it. She helps us out so much in serve/receive and she offers not just length, but athleticism. Anything at the net she can reach and cover. She is also starting to hit with her left hand at times, when the ball isn’t just perfect for her, which totally catches the other team off guard.”
She added, “We moved Kaeleigh from right side to outside and I know that for Danielle, Kaeleigh is her safe zone. If she feels all other options are exhausted, she can go to Kaeleigh and Kaeleigh is going to do something with it. She is one of our most consistent players.”
The Lady Cats also carry three sophomores, in Kyndal Edgemon, Kennadi Hanlin and Julie Bownds.
“Kyndal and Julie, I play them at middle sometimes, sometimes I play them on the right side and sometimes outside,” she said. “Kyndal has a little bit more length, but Julie probably hits better middle than anybody, as far as a quick hitter. She has an awesome arm and really worked on that in the spring. Kyndal plays the right side the best and I feel like those two girls are going to be big for us in district against teams like Brownfield and Denver City.”
She added, “Kennadi is the most cheering out of the whole group. There isn’t one time where I’ve seen her down; she may get a little upset with herself a little bit, but she always pulls herself out of it, because we have to have that constant. I think that is one thing this group has struggled with in the past is they didn’t have that cheerleader. Kennadi is able to do that when she is on the floor and when she is off of it. She is a consistent server’ she has maybe missed five serves this season, so she is one we always leave in there. She is very calm and doesn’t get sucked into the game and is getting very good at covering her spot in the back row.”
Coach Head said she feels like one of their biggest strengths is that they all put the team first.
“Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen them progress from a team that is winning games, but is not happy with the roles some people have to now we’re winning games and we’re happy with where we are,” she said. “We’re going to put in the extra work and make our role more, but we’re happy as a whole.”
She added, “Our other strength is our defense. I tell the girls all the time, ‘yes we have to be able to hit the ball consistently, that’s how we’re going to score points, but we can’t just trade points. We have to be able to play defensively, that is what is going to win us games and I feel like we’ve come a long way with that.”
The coach talked about how she feels the pre-district schedule has prepared them for district, saying, “I feel like we’re more ready this year, than the whole time I’ve been here. I feel like the Denver City Tournament was really good for us this year. We went over there and actually competed; in the past we’ve been matched up with teams that we’re not quite to the point they are. This year, even in the games we lost, all of the scores were really, really close.”
She added, “Saturday was tough for us. I know we’re going to meet Shallowater in the play-offs, it’s going to happen. Me just being able to look at one set, versus all three sets, is not what I wanted, but I feel like we haven’t been on a roller coaster like what we’ve been on in the past. We have only done that once this year, against Idalou, and we talked about it and were able to move past it.”
Coach head gave her outlook on the district, saying, “We’re going for first or second. Brownfield is good; we got some film on them, and when they start out they don’t look all that great, but they’re consistent with what they do. They don’t make very many mistakes, and those girls just gel together. Denver City is not what they’ve been in the past, but those girls know volleyball. Lamesa is way better than they were last year and I think they could be a team that catches people off guard. Dimmitt is another team, who could catch some people off guard. They have some good servers. Friona is always good. It’s going to be a battle every night and I think there are going to be some teams in the end having to have a play-off to go to the play-offs.
The Lady Cats open district play on Tuesday at home against the Dimmitt Bobbies.
First set is scheduled for 6 p.m.