Lady Cats sweep Childress to clinch play-off birth

The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team came out on fire against the Childress Lady Cats on Saturday at home and never let up, as they swept the match, 3-0, to secure a spot in the Class 3A volleyball play-offs.

With the win, the Lady Cats improved to 18-12 overall, 4-5 in district play.

Chloe Churchill’s opening serve in set one fell short of the net and on the next play, Ansley Parr was called for a double-hit, making the score, 2- 0. Addie Baize was blocked by Mylie Hernandez for a kill and Journey Prince was blocked by Hernandez on the following play, stretching the Littlefield lead to, 4-0. Baize was called for a double hit, but the rally ended when Prince delivered a kill that was dug by Kennadi Hanlin, but the ball landed out of bounds, trimming the lead to, 5-1.

Kaydence Simpkins sent a serve short of the net, and on the next play, Prince was blocked by Lyric Rios and Hernandez for a kill, pushing the lead to, 8-1. Childress took a time out and out of the break, a tip by Prince was hit out of bounds by Kamryn Jimenez, making the score, 8-2.

Childress couldn’t string together anything on offense, as Baize was called for touching the net, turning the serve back over to Littlefield with the score, 9-2. Hanlin sent a hit out of bounds on the sideline, but Chloe Chilton was called for touching the net on the next play and Cali Saldana followed it up with back-to-back aces off of Parr, pushing their lead to, 12-3.

Chilton had a tip land out of bounds on the sideline for Childress and on the next play, a kill attempt landed out of bounds for Chilton, stretching the Littlefield lead to, 14-3. Baize touched the net on a set and on the next play, Chilton sent a kill into the net, making the score, 163. Amiah Elizondo sent a hit into the net for Littlefield, as Childress regained the serve, but it was short-lived, as Chilton’s next hit also went into the net, making the score, 17-4.

Saldana delivered a kill off of Parr and a dig off the net by Chilton didn’t make it over the net, pushing the lead to, 19-4, as Childress called for a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Hanlin delivered a kill on the sideline, but Simpkins answered with a kill off of the block attempt by Julie Bownds and Elizondo, making the score, 20-5.

Bownds responded with a kill in front of Angelica Torres and Simpkins had a tip land out of bounds on the next play to stretch the lead to, 22-5. Simpkins sent a hit into the net and Bownds followed it up with a kill off of the block attempt by Chilton, pushing the lead to, 24-5. Childress answered with a kill and Bri Valdez was called for a double-hit on the next play, before Bownds closed out the set with a kill past Churchill, as Littlefield took set one, 25-7.

Prince opened set two for Childress with back-to-back kills, but a serve by Simpkins fell short of the net making the score, 1-2. The teams exchanged points and Prince delivered a kill to stretch the Childress lead to, 2- 4. Littlefield would answer to regain the serve and a hit by Taegan Carroll sailed out of bounds, tying the set, 4-4.

Elizondo was called for touching the net on a tip try and her hit on the next play hit the foul pole, putting Childress back in front, 46. Littlefield would not go away, as Hanlin delivered a kill on the sideline and Simpkins followed it up with a hit out of bounds, making the score, 6-6. Childress responded with a kill, but Elizondo fired right back with a kill that was tipped at the net by Chilton before falling in for a Littlefield point to keep the set tied, 7-7.

Simpkins delivered a kill in the back corner and Bownds sent a hit into the net on the next play to make the score, 7-9, but Churchill’s next serve fell short of the net, making the score, 8-9, as Littlefield regained the serve. Prince delivered a kill over Hernandez and Simpkins served up an ace off of Brown, before her next serve fell short of the net, making the score, 9-11.

Prince scored another kill for Childress and Rios was called for a double-hit on the next play, pushing the Childress lead to, 9-13, before Hernandez had a hit blocked by Prince, that landed out of bounds to trim the lead back down to, 10-13.

Baize was called for a double hit, but Littlefield couldn’t capitalize, as Brown’s serve fell short of the net, making the score, 1114. Chilton delivered a kill off of the block attempt from Hernandez, but a save by Hanlin on the next play led to an eventual kill off of Prince by Hernandez, trimming the lead to, 12-15.

Chilton sent a hit into the net, and Churchill was called for a carry on the next play, making the score, 14-15. A hit by Carroll sailed out of bounds for Childress, as Littlefield tied the set, 15-15. A hit by Carroll fell in for a kill in front of Saldana, but Elizondo answered with a kill off of Churchill to keep the set tied, 16-16. A hit by Chilton didn’t make it over the net off of a bad set by Baize and Simpkins sent a hit out of bounds on the sideline, making the score, 18-16.

Valdez served up an ace off of Parr and Baize was called for a double-hit on the next play, making the score, 20-16, as Childress took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Valdez was called for a double-hit on her set, but Bownds responded with a kill off of Torres for Littlefield, making the score, 21-17. Simpkins sent backto- back hits into the net for Childress and Baize was called for a double-hit, pushing the lead to, 24-17, before Valdez was called for the double-hit, turning the serve back over to Childress with the score, 24-18.

Bownds would deliver a kill, as Littlefield took set two, 25-18, to improve to, 2-0 in the match.

Baize was called for a doublehit to open set three and Prince sent a kill attempt sailing out of bounds, making the score, 2-0. Prince responded with a tip for a kill, Simpkins serve was hit into the net by Alyssa Torres, tying the set, 2-2. Prince sent a kill past Valdez, but Hernandez answered with a tip over Baize and Prince for a kill to tie the set, 3-3.

Prince couldn’t play a ball at the net off of a bad set by Baize, but Bryndle Ray’s serve fell short of the net, keeping the set tied, 4-4. Prince sent back-to-back hits into the net and her next hit sailed out of bounds on the sideline, stretching the Littlefield lead to, 7-4. Hernandez delivered a soft kill over the block attempt by Prince, but Prince responded with a kill off of Ray and Brown to make the score, 8-5.

Prince served up an ace in front of Hanlin and Chilton had a kill tipped out of bounds by Littlefield trimming the lead to, 8-7. Elizondo delivered a kill past Simpkins in the back row and Baize was called for a double-hit on her set, pushing the lead back out to, 10-7. Rios lost a tip battle at the net with Chilton, but Ray delivered a kill off of Churchill to making the score, 11-8.

Bownds delivered a block for a kill, but Parr answered with a kill for Childress and Carroll followed it up with an ace off of Saldana, before Bownds ended the rally with a kill in the back corner to make the score, 13-10. Simpkins sent a hit into the net for Childress, but Angelica Torres answered with a kill to cut the lead to, 14-11.

Baize was again called for a double-hit on her set and Simpkins sent a hit into the net on the next play, pushing the lead to, 16-11. Prince delivered a kill over Hernandez and Maggie McNeese, but Hernandez answered with a tip that fell in for a kill to extend the lead to, 17-12. Prince was blocked by Hernandez and Rios for a kill and Baize, on the following play, was called for a double hit to stretch the lead to, 19-12.

Hernandez sent a kill sailing out of bounds, but on the next play, Prince was blocked by Rios and Hernandez and Childress was called for a double-hit on the dig attempt to make the score, 20-13. Brown served up an ace, but Prince answered with a kill in front of the block attempt by Elizondo and Hernandez, trimming the lead to, 21-14.

Elizondo answered with a kill off of Simpkins, but Childress fired right back, as Chilton delivered a kill off of Saldana, making the score, 22-15. Elizondo sent a tip into the net, and Ray was called for a double-hit, as Childress narrowed the lead to, 22-17. Three consecutive hits out of bounds by Childress, though, would close out the set, 25-17, as Littlefield took the match, 3-0.

The Lady Cats closed out the regular season on Tuesday on the road against Shallowater. Results were not available at press time.