The Littlefield Lady Cats survived a scare in their tournamentopener Thursday afternoon, as they took down Olton, 2-1, in pool play.
In set one, Brynna Ray got the Lady Cats out to a, 2-0 lead, before a hit out of bounds by Ashtyn Parker turned the serve over to Olton. Celestte Ramirez’s serve was hit out of bounds by Littlefield and she followed it up with an ace on the next play to put the Fillies out in front, 2-3.
Makenly Smith delivered a kill, but on the following play, Danielle Zapata dropped in a tip for a kill to stop the run for Olton, making the score, 3-4. They could not capitalize, though, as Emily Champion’s serve fell short of the net giving the serve right back to Olton with the score, 3-5.
A kill by Parker was hit out of bounds by Karla Arriola, but Emma Acker answered with a kill for Olton on the next play to extend their lead to, 4-6. Madison McNeese sent a kill sailing over the back boundary line for Littlefield, but Daniela Sanchez was called for a double hit on the next play, turning the serve over to Littlefield.
Zapata got the Lady Cats rolling as she rallied for nine consecutive points, before Arriola sent a kill off of Tricia Torres, making the score, 14-8, as Olton regained the serve. Arriola, though, on the next play, was called for touching the net on a block against McNeese, stretching the Lady Cat’s lead to, 15-8.
Julie Bownds sent a serve over the back line, but on the next play, a tip by Ellie Lopez was hit into the net by Shaylee Leathers, stretching the lead to, 16-9. Arriola tipped the net for a kill for Olton, but on the following play, the hit by Kaeleigh Logan was hit out of bounds by Arriola, making the score, 17-10.
Logan was blocked by Smith and Ramirez for a kill, but on the next play, Parker picked up a block on Smith for a kill to push their lead back out to, 18-11. Olton picked up two consecutive points, as back-to-back hits by Parker landed out of bounds, but the rally ended when Leathers sent a serve over the back boundary line, making the score, 19-13.
Parker bounced back by serving up an ace off of Ramirez, but on the following play, Valeria Cruz was called for touching the net on a block to make the score, 20-14. Smith’s serve fell short of the net for Olton, but the Fillies answered, as a tip by Arriola was hit out of bounds by Zapata to trim the lead to, 21-15.
McNeese delivered a kill off of Leathers and Sanchez was called for a double hit to make the score, 23-15, but on the next play, Lopez landed across the net on a hit for Littlefield, giving the serve to Olton as the score was trimmed to, 24-16. McNeese ended the set on the next play with a kill, as Littlefield took set one, 25-16.
In set two, Ramirez got the Fillies out to a, 0-3, lead, as Littlefield called an early time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Ramirez’s serve fell short of the net to get the Lady Cats on the board, and Champion’s serve landed inside the back line for an ace to make it a one-point game. Another ace by Champion tied the set, but Smith ended the run for Littlefield with a kill off of McNeese, making the score, 3-4.
A serve by Leathers was hit out of bounds by the Lady Cats, but the Fillies were called for four hits on the next play, making the score, 4-5. A set by Ramirez was killed at the net by Kyndal Edgemon to tie the set, 5-5, and a double hit on Ramirez on the following play gave Littlefield their first lead of the set, 6-5.
The lead was short-lived, as Parker’s serve landed short of the net and McNeese was blocked by Arriola on the following play for a kill, as Olton regained the lead, 6-7.
The teams went back and forth until Olton was called for four hits, making the score, 18-16. McNeese followed it up with a kill past Smith and Parker served up an ace on the next play to give Littlefield a four-point advantage, 20-16.
Parker and Lori Melendez each exchanged serves out of bounds, but Arriola answered with a kill through the block attempt of McNeese, trimming the lead to, 21-18. McNeese sent a hit into the net and Gideon Bramwell knocked a kill out of bounds, cutting the Littlefield lead to, one point, 21-20.
McNeese ended the rally for Olton, as she delivered a kill in front of Melendez and she followed it up with a block on Arriola for a kill to make the score, 23-20. Sanchez picked up a kill for Olton and Bramwell sent a kill sailing out of bounds on the following play to make the score, 23-22.
Leathers was blocked by Bramwell for a kill to make the score, 24-22, but Zapata was called for an illegal hit and a tip by Parker didn’t make it over the net, tying the set, 24-24. Littlefield took a time out and out of the break, Arriola served up back-to-back aces to tie the match 1-1, as Olton took set two, 24-26.
Littlefield jumped out to a quick, 4-0, lead to begin set three, but a tip by Parker didn’t make it over the net and Olton followed it up with an ace by Ramirez to cut the lead to, 4-2. A kill by Parker was hit out of bounds by Olton, but the Fillies responded, as Smith dropped in a tip for a kill to make the score, 5-3.
Leather’s serve fell short of the net for Olton and Parker followed it up with an ace off of Leathers, before her next serve fell short of the net, making the score, 7-4. McNeese tipped a ball over Arriola at the net and it was hit out of bounds by Ramirez to stretch the lead to, 8-4. Sanchez sent a hit out of bounds for Olton and McNeese sent a kill past Leathers to make the score, 10-4, as the Fillies called a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, McNeese was called for touching the net on a hit and Arriola capitalized on the next play, dropping a kill into the back corner of the court for Olton, trimming the lead to, 10-6. McNeese scored a kill off of an Olton block attempt, but Kennadi Hanlin’s serve landed out of bounds, making the score, 11-7.
Sanchez was called for a double hit on the next play, but Olton answered, as Leathers sent a kill off of Hanlin to trim the lead to, 12-8. Smith was blocked by Parker for a kill and Smith sent a tip into the net on the following play, making the score, 14-8. Logan and Parker sent back-to-back hits into the net to cut the lead to, 14-10, and a kill by Parker was broke by Arriola and Parker mistimed her jump on the second hit, as the ball fell in for an Olton point to make the score, 14-11
Ṙamirez’s serve on the next play was returned out of bounds by the Lady Cats and after a time out, Smith delivered a kill off of McNeese to make it a one-point game, 14-13. Ramirez’s serve, though, on the following play, fell short of the net as Littlefield survived to take set three, 15-13.