Lady Cats fall to Talkington in season-opener

The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity volleyball team got the 2022 campaign underway on Monday, as they fell in their home-opener to Talkington, 0-3.

With the loss, the Lady Cats fall to 0-1 overall on the season.

Talkington opened the first set on a, 0-3, scoring run, before a hit from Aniah Cortez sailed out of bounds, making the score, 1-3. White delivered a kill off of the block attempt of Madison McNeese and Jessica Rojero to regain the serve for Talkington, but it was short-lived, as Chrstina McCourt sent the next serve out of bounds, making the score, 2-4.

Aserve from Briana Valdez was hit out of bounds by Talkington and a hit on the next play by White also sailed out of bounds, tying the set, 4-4. Rojero was called for touching the next on a play, sending the serve back to Talkington and Christi Cortez followed it up with a kill off of a dig by Rojero to make the score, 4-6.

Rojero sent a hit into the net, but the Lady Cats would battle back, as Aniah Cortez sent a hit out of bounds, giving the serve back to Littlefield. McNeese served up back-to-back aces to tie the set, 7-7. A four-hits call on Talkington gave Littlefield a onepoint advantage and a hit into the net on the next play by Garcia pushed the Lady Cat lead to, 9-7.

McNeese sent a serve out of bounds and Tatum Hutchison sent a kill through the block attempt of Julie Bownds and Rojero to tie the set, 9-9. Aniah Cortez sent a serve out of bounds, but the Lady Cats couldn’t capitalize, as Kyndal Edgemon sent a hit sailing out of bounds on the next play to keep the set tied, 10-10. McNeese delivered a kill to regain the serve for Littlefield, but Bryndle Ray’s serve on the following play, sailed over the back boundary line, keeping the set knotted up, 11-11.

Bownds delivered a block onAniah Cortez for a kill and followed it up with an ace off of Garcia to give the Lady Cats a two-point advantage, before McNeese sent a hit into the net, making the score, 13-12. Garcia dropped in a tip in the middle of the Lady Cat defense for a kill to tie the set, and Hutchison followed it up with backto- back aces off of Kennadi Hanlin to make the score, 13-15. Her next serve was hit out of bounds by McNeese, as Littlefield Head Coach Jarrod Thomas called a time out to talk things over with his team.

Out of the break, Hutchison sent another serve that went out of bounds off of Kynzie Jordan, before sending her next serve sailing out of bounds, trimming the lead to, 14-17. Talkington would resond with a four-point rally, before a serve from McCourt fell short of the net, making the score, 15-21. Talkington would close out the set on a, 1-4 scoring run to take set one, 16-25.

In set two, Littlefield found themselves in an, 0-2, hole to start the set, but White was called for touching the net on a block try, putting Littlefield on the board with the score, 1-2. White, though, would respond for Talkington with a kill off of a block attempt by McNeese to stretch the lead to, 1-3. A kill attempt by Aniah Cortez landed out of bounds and a hit by Christi Cortez sailed into the net, tying the set, 3-3.

Valdez would serve up three consecutive points before Talkington took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, a hit by Valdez landed out of bounds trimming their lead to, 6-4. White’s serve was hit out of bounds by Kaeleigh Logan and an illegal hit on Valdez on the next play tied the set, 6-6. Brooklyn Williams delivered back-to-back blocks for kills, but a kill by McNeese was tipped out of bounds byAniah Cortez, making it a one-point lead for Talkington, 7-8.

Logan dropped in a kill on the back line to tie the set, 8-8, but Talkington responded, as Williams tipped the net for a kill. Logan was called for a doublehit on the next play, but a hit from Hutchison landed out of bounds, making the score, 9-10. Talkington was called for four hits, after a hit by Christi Cortez sailed into the net, tying the set, 10-10, but they would answer with back-to-back points, as Logan’s serve landed out of bounds and a bad set by Valdez on the following play made the score, 10-12.

Edgemon delivered a kill off of Williams and Hutchison, but Talkington responded with a three-point rally to make the score, 11-15, after a kill by White was tipped out of bounds by McNeese. Edgemon answered with a kill off of Garcia and a serve by Bownds was hit out of bounds by Talkington, before Aniah Cortez was called for a double-hit on the next play, making the score, 14-15.

Talkington would bounce back with three consecutive points, before White was blocked by McNeese and the rebound hit was sent into the net by McCourt, making the score, 15-18. Jordan was called for touching the net on the next play, sending the serve back to Talkington and they would close out the set on a, 2-7, scoring run to take set two, 17-25.

The Lady Cats dug themselves an, 0-5, hole to begin set three, as Coach Thomas took a time out to regroup. Out of the break, Callie Tidwell was called for an illegal hit, but the Lady Cats couldn’t capitalize, as a kill by Hutchison was tipped out of bounds by Jordan, making the score, 1-6.

McCourt sent a serve out of bounds, but Talkington answered with a six-point rally before Littlefield used another time out to talk things over. Out of the break, McNeese dropped a kill in the back corner to make the score, 12-3, but again they couldn’t capitalize, as Bownds was called for touching the net on the following play, giving the serve back to Talkington with the score, 3-13.

Talkington would go on a five-point scoring run, before Hutchison tipped back-to-back balls into the net, making the score, 5-18. Williams was called for touching the net on a secondchance hit and Logan followed it up with an ace to trim the lead to, 7-18. Christi Cortez delivered a kill off of Logan, but Hutchison’s hit on the next play sailed out of bounds making the score, 8-19.

McCourt’s return off of the serve from Ray sailed over the boundary line to cut the lead to 10 points, but Talkington would slam the door, closing things out on a, 2-6, scoring run to take set thre, 11-25, and the match, 0-3.

ON THE ATTACK - Littlefield senior, Madison McNeese, delivers a kill attempt over the Talkington blocker, during the third set of the Lady Cats loss on Monday in their season-opener. (Staff Photo by Derek Lopez)