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SETTING THE PLAY – Littlefield’s Brynna Ray (1) sets the ball up the air, as the Lady Cats look to strike, during their match with Idalou this past Tuesday. (Staff Photo by Derek Lopez) -
KEEPING THE BALL IN PLAY – Littlefield’s Hannah Ballejo (6) keeps a ball in play, as the Lady Cats look to go on the attack during their match with Idalou this past Tuesday. (Staff Photo by Derek Lopez)
The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team fell on the road to the Idalou Lady Cats on Tuesday, 0-3.
With the loss, the Lady Cats fall to 0-5 overall on the season.
In set one, the Lady Cats fell into an, 0-4 hole, before a kill by junior, Ashtyn Parker, was hit out of bounds by Kylee Sollis to get the Lady Cats on the board, 1-4. A dig by junior, Hannah Ballejo, was tipped over the net by sophomore, Madison McNeese, for a kill, trimming the lead to, 2-4.
Kayla Johnson and Hailey Vanbeekum scored back-to-back kills for Idalou, before Johnson was called for a double hit, turning the serve back over to Littlefield with the score, 3-6.
Vanbeekum was blocked by McNeese and junior, Danielle Zapata, for a kill, but Idalou answered with an eight-point rally, forcing Littlefield to take a time out, trailing Idalou, 5-14. Out of the break, Taylor Houston sent a kill out of bounds and Littlefield capitalized, as Brynna Ray’s serve was returned out of bounds by Idalou, cutting the lead to, 7-14.
A hit into the net by sophomore, Kaeleigh Logan, was hit into the net sparking a three-point rally, before Logan Heard sent a serve out of bounds, making the score, 8-17.
Houston sent a kill past the block attempt of Parker and senior, Geyah Garza, to make it a 10-point lead for Idalou, 8-18. Idalou scored back-to-back points, before McKenna Nodine sent a serve short of the net, trimming the lead to, 9-20.
Idalou went on to close out the set on a, 5-1, scoring run to take set 1, 10-25.
In set two, Littlefield fell behind early, but a hit into the net by Nodine, cut the Idalou lead to one point, 3-4. Wilson was blocked by Johnson for a kill, but on the following play, Houston was called for touching the during a block attempt, making the score, 4-5.
Ray served up an ace to tie the set, 5-5, and Houston was blocked by Wilson and Garza for a kill to give the Lady Cats their first lead of the match, 6-5. Houston responded with a kill on the back row for Idalou, but Light’s serve was short of the net for Idalou, giving Littlefield the serve and the lead, 7-6.
Junior, Emily Champion, had her serve returned out of bounds by Johnson and her next serve was hit out of bounds by Kerr, pushing the Littlefield lead to, 9-6. Houston delivered a kill to end the scoring run, but on the next play Ellie Lopez tipped the net with a hit, as the ball was hit out of bounds by Kinann Martin, making the score, 10-7.
Hannah Parnell was called for touching the net, but after a time out, Parnell scored a kill off of the block attempt by Lopez and McNeese, making the score, 11-8. Parker responded with a kill off of Kerr, bur Idalou came right back with a kill by Johnson off of the block attempt from McNeese, making the score, 12-9.
A kill by Parker was dug by Martin, but none of the other Idalou players reacted to the ball as it fell in for a Littlefield point. Wilson scored a tip kill at the net off of Heard and McNeese followed it up with a kill off of the block attempt of Parnell, making the score, 15-9.
A quick hit by Heard fell in for a kill for Idalou, but Littlefield quickly answered, as a hit by McNeese was tipped out of bounds by Idalou, pushing their lead back out to, 16-10.
Idalou scored back-to-back points, before a serve by Johnson landed out of bounds. Light was called for touching the net on the next sequence and on the following play, Lopez tipped the ball over the net off of the block by Houston for a kill, extending their lead to, 19-12.
Idalou responded with back-toback kills, before taking a time out to talk things over, trailing Littlefield, 19-14. Out of the break, a kill attempt by Idalou landed out of bounds, but Littlefield was unable to capitalize on the next play, as a hit from Lopez sailed out of bounds making the score, 20-15.
Nodine’s serve was short of the net for Idalou and McNeese followed it up with a kill off of Heard, before Garza’s serve fell short of the net, trimming the lead to, 22- 16.
Idalou would rally back, closing the set on a, 10-2 scoring run to take set two, 24-26.
Littlefield opened set three with an ace from Garza, and Idalou was called for four hits on the next play to put them up, 2-0. A save by Parker didn’t make it over the net, giving Idalou their first point of the set.
It was short-lived, as Vanbeekum hit the foul pole with a hit, turning the serve back over to Littlefield. Zapata followed it up with a tip for a kill to make the score, 4-1. A hit out of bounds by McNeese gave the serve back to Idalou, and they would tie the set at, 4-4, a few plays later, as Johnson scored a kill off of Garza.
The teams exchanged points, before Idalou went on a sevenpoint scoring run, that ended when McNeese tipped the net for a kill, trimming the lead to, 6-12. Houston sent a tip over Zapata and Wilson for a kill and then won a tip battle at the net with Wilson for a kill on the next play to extend the Idalou lead to, 6-14.
Light sent a hit short of the net, but Idalou recovered quickly and went on a, 8-0 scoring run, before Nodine sent a serve short of the net to make the score, 9-21. McNeese sent a kill over the back line out of bounds, but Parker answered with a kill off of a set by Ray to cut the lead to, 10-22.
Heard sent a bad set into the net for Idalou, but after a kill sent into the net by Vanbeekum, they would close out the match with back-to-back points to take set three, 12-25.