The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team took care of business in straight sets on Tuesday, on the road against the Friona Squaws.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 7-2 in district play.
Senior, Brynna Ray, got the Lady Cats going with an ace to begin set one, but a tip by sophomore, Julie Bownds, on the next play landed out of bounds to tie the set, 1-1. Friona followed it up with a kill and senior, Ashtyn Parker, was called for a double-hit on the following play to put Friona in front, 1-3.
Senior, Emily Champion, delivered a kill off of Anahi Gonzales, but Jacee Burney responded with a kill off of the block attempt by senior, Danielle Zapata, making the score, 2-4. A tip by Emma Schueler landed out of bounds for Friona and the Squaws were called for four hits on the next play, after a hit by Magdalena Licerio did not make it over the net, making the score, 4-4.
Reyna Arias mistimed a hit at the net and junior, Madison McNeese, followed it up with a kill off of the block attempt from Schueler, putting Littlefield in front, 6-4. Friona answered with a kill, but the Squaws couldn’t capitalize, as Licerio sent a kill sailing out of bounds, extending the Littlefield lead to, 7-5.
Licerio had a kill tipped at the net on a block attempt from junior, Kaeleigh Logan, but her next serve sailed short of the net, making the score, 8-6. Reese Stowers sent a hit out of bounds and the Lady Cats followed it up with a kill to extend their lead to, 10-6. A kill on the next play by McNeese was tipped out of bounds by Burney, as Friona called a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Stowers was blocked by McNeese and senior, Valeria Cruz, for a kill and Stowers was called for touching the net on a block attempt on the following play, to extend the lead to, 13-6. Stowers delivered a kill to regain the serve for Friona, but it was short-lived, as McNeese answered with a kill between Gonzales and Licerio, pushing their lead to, 14-7.
A tip by Kitzy Welch was blocked by Parker for a kill, but on the next play, a tipped ball by Parker landed out of bounds, making the score, 15-8. Bownds sent a hit into the net and a hit by Stowers on the next play was tipped out of bounds on a dig attempt by Champion, cutting the lead to, 15-10.
A tip by Parker landed out of bounds off of the block attempt from Stowers, but Friona answered on the next play to make the score, 16-11. Zapata set Bownds up for a kill on Friona’s back row and Logan followed it up with a kill off of Destini Nava, before Friona sent a hit out of bounds, making the score, 19-11. The Squaws took a time out to talk things over, and out of the break, Logan sent a hit into the net, turning the serve over to Friona.
Friona couldn’t capitalize, as Logan dropped in a tip for a kill, sparking a five-point rally, as Littlefield took the set, 25-12.
The Lady Cats opened set two on a, 4-0, scoring run, before senior, Julie Rodriguez, sent a serve short of the net, turning it over to Friona. Burney served up back-to-back aces for the Squaws and a tip on the next play by Friona was hit out of bounds by McNeese, tying the set, 4-4.
A tip by Zapata was blocked by Schueler for a kill, but the Squaws couldn’t keep the rally going, as Licerio hit a ball into the net, tying the set, 5-5. Schueler was blocked by McNeese for a kill, but on the next play, Ray was called for being across the net on a set, making the score, 6-6.
McNeese delivered a kill off of Gonzales and a hit by Arias was blocked by McNeese and Gideon Bramwell for a kill, making the score, 8-6. Friona answered with a kill in front of Hanlin, but they couldn’t capitalize, as they were called for four hits on the next play, turning the serve over to Littlefield. Arias sent a hit out of bounds and Champion followed it up with an ace from the serve line, making the score, 10- 7.
A hit by Bownds was tipped out of bounds by Burney, but Champion’s next serve sailed into the net, turning the serve back over to Friona.
McNeese scored a kill off of Arias, but Bownds sent a hit into the net on the next play, making the score, 13-9. Parker had a hit blocked by Schueler for a kill and Welch served up back-to-back serves to cut the lead to, 13-12, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Welch sent a serve out of bounds and Parker followed it up with a kill past Gonzales, stretching their lead back out to 15- 12. Stowers had a hit land out of bounds for Friona, but Ray’s next serve for Littlefield fell short of the net, making the score, 16-13.
Friona would again rally to make it a one-point game, before a kill by Parker was tipped at the net before falling in for a kill to make the score, 18-16. McNeese tipped a ball over Schueler that was hit out of bounds by Arias, as Friona took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, sophomore, Kennadi Hanlin, served up an ace, but on the next play, Champion sent a hit over that landed just out of bounds, turning the serve over to the Squaws with the score, 20-17. Logan sent a kill sailing out of bounds and Gonzales served up an ace on the back line for Friona, before Welch was called for a double hit, turning the serve over to Littlefield.
Welch answered with a kill off of Champion and a hit by the Lady Cats on the next play landed out of bounds to tie the set, 21-21. Friona took the lead after Logan was called for an illegal attack, but Licerio sent her serve short of the net for Friona, tying the set, 22-22.
Welch was blocked by McNeese for a kill and Champion followed it up with an ace, as Friona took a time out to try and freeze the Lady Cats. Out of the break, though, McNeese closed the set with a kill off of the block attempt by Welch, giving Littlefield the set, 25-22, and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Both teams exchanged hits out of bounds to begin set three, but a tipped hit out of bounds by Littlefield, sparked a five-point rally for the Squaws to put them up, 1-6, after a tip by Arias fell in for a kill. Schueler sent a hit out of bounds to end the rally and the Lady Cats sparked a rally of their own, tying the set on a block by McNeese, on the kill attempt by Schueler, making the score, 6-6.
Arias delivered a kill off of the block attempt by Zapata to regain the serve for Friona, and a hit by Logan didn’t make it over the net and a kill by Arias off of the block attempt by McNeese and Zapata put the Squaws back in front, 6-9.
McNeese responded with a kill in front of Burney and Friona was called for an illegal hit on the next play to make the score, 8-9, before Valeria Cruz hit a ball into the net off of a low set up from McNeese, making the score, 8-10. Two plays later, Littlefield would tie the set on a kill in front of Gonzales by Bownds and they would take the lead on the next play, after Licerio was called for an illegal attack, making the score, 11-10.
Stowers was called for a doublehit and McNeese followed it up with a kill in the back corner to stretch their lead to, 13-10. Stowers delivered a kill in front of Hanlin to end the run for Littlefield, but the Lady Cats wasted no time regaining the serve, as Arias sent a serve short of the net, making the score, 14-11.
Abigail Ybarbo served up an ace off of Nava, as Friona took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Welch sent a hit into the net and Burney was called for a doublehit on the following play, stretching the lead to, 18-11. A hit by Bownds was tipped back over the net for a kill by Stowers, however the Lady Cats answered right back as Bownds delivered a kill off of Welch to push their lead to, 19-12.
Ray served up an ace for Littlefield, as the Squaws took another time out, and out of the break, Stowers sent a hit into the net, making the score, 21-12. Friona would score back-to-back points, but the Lady Cats would rally back and close out the set on a, 4-0, scoring run to take set three, 25-14, and the match, 3-0.
The Lady Cats hosted Brownfield on Saturday to close out the regular season. Results were not available at press time.