The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team hosted the Wellman-Union Lady Cats for their first match of the season as part of a dual.
The Lady Cats took the match, 2-1, to improve to 1-0 overall on the year.
After winning set one, the Lady Cats took the court for set two, looking to sweep Wellman-Union.
Wellman-Union jumped out to a, 2- 3, lead before Aliyah Depoyster sent a hit into the net, tying the set, 3-3. During the next play, London Taylor was called for being on the net, giving the serve right back to Wellman-Union, but they could not capitalize, as Emalyn Navarro’s serve fell short of the net keeping the set tied. 4-4.
Kamila Silveira delivered a serve and the return hit by Jerzee Harlan fell short of the net, giving Littlefield a, 5-4, advantage. The back-and-forth match continued, as Silveira sent a hit short of the net, but Taylor answered for the Lady Cats on the next play, delivering a block for a kill, making the score, 6-5.
Wellman-Union was called for four hits, pushing the lead to, 7-5, but a tip by Wellman-Union on the next play fell in for a kill, trimming the lead to, 7-6. Azayla Mercado hit the foul pole with a hit, giving the serve back to Littlefield, and Mercado sent a hit sailing out of bounds on the next play, stretching the Littlefield lead to, 9-6.
Taylor sent a serve short of the net and a hit on the next play by Mattie Seymore fell short of the net, knotting the game at, 9-9. Mercado sent a serve out of bounds to give it back to Littlefield with the score, 10-9, but neither team could capitalize, as Bryndle Ray sent a serve short of the net.
A kill attempt by Seymore landed out of bounds on the sideline and Harlan followed it up with an ace to gain a two-point lead over Littlefield. However, Depoyster sent a hit short of the net on the next play, and she followed it up with a kill attempt that landed out of bounds, tying the game, 12-12.
A save by Micaela Escobar was tipped out of bounds by Tailyn Gomez, sparking a five-point rally for Wellman-Union that ended when Maggie McNeese dropped in a tip for a kill, making the score, 13-17. Neither team could take advantage, as each team sent a hit into the net, making the score, 14--18.
Mercado was called for a double hit, but a hit by Kealee Bussey fell short of the net, making the score, 15-19. Taylor dug out a ball, but it fell to close to the net for Silveira to play. Zoya Wise followed it up with a tip over Taylor and McNeese for a kill pushing the Wellman-Union lead to, 15-21, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Depoyster sent a serve sailing out of bounds, but on the next play, Taylor was blocked by Ansley Brown and the ball was hit out of bounds by Silveira, making the score, 16-22. Silveira bounced back, dropping in a tip that was tipped out of bounds by Brown, trimming the lead to, 17-22.
A dig by Brittani Wright landed out of bounds, but Nevaeh Lopez responded with a kill on the sideline to trim the lead to, 18-23. Ray served up an ace off of Peyton Huston, but on the next play, Littlefield sent a hit into the net, pushing the lead to, 19-24. Ray would set Seymore up for a kill on the next play and Navarro sent a hit into the net for Wellman-Union, cutting the lead to, 21-24.
Lopez dropped in a tip off of Escobar for a kill to make it a twopoint game, as Wellman-Union took a time out, and out of the break, Seymore’s serve fell short of the net, as Wellman-Union took the set, 22-25, tying the match, 11.
Littlefield got off to a quick start in set three, as Ray opened things up with an ace, before Seymore followed it up with a tip on the sideline for a kill. Navarro was called for being on the net on a block attempt against McNeese making the score, 3-0. Mercado would have a hit tipped out of bounds by Ray to end the rally and get Wellman-Union on the board.
Harlan and Madison Williams exchanged bad serves, and Sayge Wise sent a serve short of the net, giving it back to Littlefield. Lopez dropped in an ace on the back line and Sayge Wise sent a return on the next play into the net, pushing the lead to, 7-2, as Wellman-Union took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, a hit by Ray fell short of the net, but the Lady Cats would get it right back, as Cobi Saldana dropped in a tip for a kill, pushing their lead to, 8-3. Mercado sent a hit out of bounds and on the next play, Zoye Wise was blocked by Taylor and Saldana for a kill, making the score, 10-3.
Saldana sent a tip into the foul pole for a Wellman-Union point, but she would respond with a kill off of Depoyster, stretching the lead to, 11-4. Saldana would keep it going with an ace off of Lisa Hildebrand, before her next serve landed out of bounds, making the score, 12-5. Brown delivered a kill off of Taylor and Zoye Wise followed it up with an ace in the back corner of the court, trimming the lead to, 12-7.
Wellman-Union would go on a five-point rally, making it a onepoint game, before Brown sent a hit into the net, making the score, 13-11. A save by Seymore landed just out of bounds on the sideline, but the serve from Mercado sailed out of bounds for Wellman-Union, making the score, 14-12. Ray and Harlan exchanged bad serves and Saldana delivered a kill off of Mercado to push their lead to, 16-13.
Wellman-Union would battle back and tie the set, 17-17, after a carry was called on Ray trying to play a ball off of the net, however, Wellman-Union was unable to capitalize on the momentum, as Zoye Wise sent a hit into the net to give the lead back to Littlefield. Bussey sent a kill sailing out of bounds to tie the set, but on the next play, Sayge Wise was blocked by Taylor for a kill to regain the lead for Littlefield.
A dig by Sayge Wise floated just over the net for a kill and Zoye Wise’s serve went unreturned by Littlefield, stretching the lead to, 19-20, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, the serve from Zoye Wise landed out of bounds on the sideline to tie the set, 20-20. Taylor followed it up with an ace and on the next play, Brown sent a hit into the net, pushing their lead to, 2220.
Taylor served up another ace forcing Wellman-Union to take a time out. Out of the break, Taylor’s serve fell short of the net, trimming the lead to, 23-21. Brown had a kill blocked by Lopez, but the ball landed out of bounds, cutting the lead to, 23-22. A kill by Seymore landed out of bounds, as Wellman-Union knotted the score, 23-23. Another tip from Seymore landed out of bounds on the sideline, but Lopez delivered a kill off of the block attempt by Brown to knott the score for Littlefield.
McNeese would deliver a kill in front of Harlan and Brown sent a kill attempt sailing out of bounds, as Littlefield took the set, 26-24, and the match, 2-1.