The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team opened their season with a victory in their home season-opener on Tuesday, taking down the Lubbock Titans, 3-0; 25-14, 25-18 and 2515.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 1-0 overall on the season.
Maggie McNeese opened set with a kill off of a set from Bryndle Ray, but McNeese’s next serve sailed out of bounds, tying the set 1-1. Long sent a serve short of the net for the Titans and on the next play, a hit from Madi Williams was hit short of the net by the Titans, making the score, 3-1.
Myli Hernandez sent a tip over the net for a kill off of a set from Williams, but the next serve from Alyssa Torres sailed out of bounds on the sideline, trimming the lead to, 4-2. Hernandez was called for a carry on the next play, making it a one-point game, 4-3, and Williams followed it up with a hit over the net that was hit backwards out of bounds by the Titans, pushing the Littlefield lead back out to, 5-4. Newsom dug out a hit by Hernandez, as it fell in for a Titans kill, but on the next play, MJ Middleton sent a hit out of bounds, putting the Lady Cats back in front, 6- 5. Littlefield couldn’t capitalize, as Torres sent a hit from the back row to close to the net for McNeese to play, tying the set, 6-6.
The Lady Cats would bounce back on the next play, as McNeese dropped in a hit for a kill. A serve from Cali Saldana was returned out of bounds on the sideline by Kassy Bednarz and on the following play, Long was called for a carry, stretching the Lady Cat lead to, 9-6. Long sent a hit out of bounds for the Titans and a tip from Lyric Rios landed for a kill as Middleton couldn’t dig it out, making the score, 11-6.
McNeese dropped in a kill in the center of the court and Kassy Bednarz was blocked by McNeese before being called for a carry, making the score, 13-6. A hit from Long landed out of bounds on the sideline, prompting the Titans to take a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Cali Saldana’s serve was returned and her save attempt on the back row fell short of the net, trimming the lead to, 14-7.
Littlefield would regain the serve, as Kassy Bednarz’s serve landed out of bounds on the sideline. Kilee Bednarz had a hit fall short of the net off of the serve from Ray, and Ray followed it up with an ace off of Long, pushing their lead to, 177. A hit by Rios was tipped out of bounds by the Titans, but they responded with a kill off of Tailyn Gomez, trimming the lead to, 18-8.
McNeese sent a kill attempt over the back boundary line, but the serve from Newsom on the next play fell short of the net, making the score, 19- 9. Hernandez delivered a kill, but the Titans responded, as Kilee Bednarz dropped a kill in the back corner to make the score, 20-10. The Titans were called for being on the net, giving the serve back to Littlefield, and Williams followed it up with a tip for a kill, making the score, 22--10.
Madi Brown dug out a hit from the Titans, as Ray set up Monica Elizondo for a kill, making the score, 23-10, as the Titans took another time out. Out of the break, Torres’ serve sailed out of bounds trimming the lead to, 23-11. Littlefield was called for a double hit on the next play, but a tip from Hernandez on the following play was tipped out of bounds by the Titans making the score, 24-12.
Newsom delivered a kill to keep the Titans alive in the set and Hernandez misplayed a ball on the next play, before Hernandez delivered a kill over Newsom to end the set, 25-14, giving Littlefield the, 1-0, advantage in the match.
In set two, Gabby Medina served up back-to-back aces off of Middleton and Sowers, before Ray dropped in a tip for a kill to make the score, 3- 0. Medina had a serve fall short of the net to end the run, making the score, 3-1. Hernandez sent a kill sailing out of bounds for the Lady Cats, but she responded with a kill over Newsom to make the score 4-2. A hit from the Titans was stopped by Cali Saldana, but no one played it, as it fell in for a Titans point, making the score, 4-3.
Cali Saldana delivered a kill off of Newsom and a serve from Williams was hit into the net by the Titans, making the score, 63. Middleton responded with a kill on the back line for the Titans, but the serve from Kilee Bednarz fell short of the net, making the score, 7- 4. Hernandez sent a hit short of the net, but the Titans had several miscues, stretching the lead to, 10-5, before Kassy Bednarz delivered a kill off of Cali Saldana.
Cobi Saldana answered with a kill off of Kilee Bednarz and McNeese won a tip battle at the net with Long to make the score, 12-6. A hit from McNeese was tipped into the net by the Titans and on the next play, Long was blocked by McNeese for a kill, pushing the lead to, 14-6. McNeese kept it going with a kill off of the Titans and Long sent a hit sailing out of bounds, making the score, 166, as the Titans called for a time out.
Out of the break, Ray’s serve sailed out of bounds and Williams followed it up with a hit into the net on the next play, making the score, 16-8. Kilee Bednarz dropped in a tip off of Ray for a kill, but the serve from Kassy Bednarz on the next play fell short of the net, making the score, 17-9. A serve from Brown was hit into the net by Kilee Bednarz and on the next play, Ray dropped in a tip for a kill, before Brown served up an ace, extending their lead to, 20-9.
Brown’s next serve was killed by Kilee Bednarz and Littlefield sent a hit out of bounds on the next play, making the score, 2011. The Titans couldn’t keep it going, as Newsom’s serve fell short of the net, turning it over to Littlefield. The Lady Cats, though, couldn’t capitalize, as Hernandez sent a kill out of bounds, trimming the lead to, 2112. Elizondo was blocked by Kilee Bednarz for a kill, but Sowers sent a hit into the net for the Titans, making the score, 22-13.
A serve from Miller sailed out of bounds on the sideline, but Hernandez answered with a tip for a kill off of the dig attempt by Newsom, making the score, 2314. After a few Littlefield miscues, the Titans would pull to within six points, as Middleton dropped in a tip over McNeese to make the score, 24- 18, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Middleton sent a kill into the net, making the score, 25- 18, as Littlefield took set two, going up 2-0 in the match.
In set three, Williams opened things up with a kill off of Sowers, and on the next play, Sowers sent a tip into the net to make the score, 2-0. The titans would tie things up after Hernandez sent a hit into the net and Kilee Bednarz dropped in a tip on the sideline for a kill, making the score, 2-2. Hernandez answered with a tip over Kilee Bednarz for a kill, sparking a three-point rally, as Ray delivered a kill on the sideline and Kilee Bednarz sent a hit into the net, making the score, 52.
Ray was called for an illegal front row attack, turning the serve over to the Titans, but after a handful of miscues from both teams, Medina served up an ace to make the score, 13-8. Cali Saldana sent a hit out of bounds, but the Titans couldn’t capitalize, as they sent three consecutive hits out of bounds, pushing the lead to, 16-9.
A serve from Torres fell short of the net, but on the next play, the serve from Kilee Bednarz hit the net, making the score, 17-10. On the following play, the Titans were called for four hits, but Littlefield couldn’t capitalize, as Bri Valdez was called for a double-hit on her set, giving the serve right back to the Titans with the score, 18-11.
The Lady Cats would go on to close out the set on a, 7-4, scoring run to take set three, 25-15, and the match 3-0.
The Lady Cats hosted Lubbock Christian on Saturday, results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Tuesday with a road game against Denver City.
The first set is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.