Lady Rattlers fall 3-0: San Marcos swept by Cibolo Steele in district matchup

Miscommunication and mistakes riddled San Marcos as they were swept against visiting Cibolo Steele 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-20) inside the Snake Pit Tuesday night. The Rattlers fell to 20-13 on the season and 1-1 in district play.

The beginning of the match was all San Marcos, as the purple and white jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set. However, after a timeout was called by the Lady Knights the tables turned.

Steele would storm out of the timeout and eventually take their first lead of the match at 13-12 and never looked back. The Lady Knights would end up taking a close first set win 25-23, setting up the rest of the contest to feel like a highly-competitive district match.

Despite the close first set, Steele jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in set two and established their momentum. The second set was truly the turning point of the match — it went from a close competition to Steele dominating almost every point. Halfway through the second set, it was clear where the match was headed.

San Marcos looked defeated after a string of mental errors and mistakes plagued the purple and white. These deficiencies would lead to an easy 25-15 second set victory for the Lady Knights, getting Steele one step closer to the sweep.

Steele senior Kitana Tuufuli made her presence known quickly with her consistent ability to hit powerful kills, propelling the Lady Knights forward. Tuufuli’s kills also provided the momentum for the Lady Knights to never slow down. The Steele outside hitter constantly bombarded the Lady Rattler defense, tiring out San Marcos.

While the Lady Rattlers were able to gain another early advantage in the third set, the Lady Knights once again overwhelmed San Marcos after a timeout. Steele once again came out of the break with firepower, going on to tie the match at 9-9. The final set featured some competitive play up until the later serves, but then Steele took control and was able to put away the match in three sets, closing it out at 25-20.

San Marcos sits in second place in District 27-6A — tied with Steele, Schertz Clemens and East Central — while New Braunfels is the lone undefeated team in the district sitting in first place. The Lady Rattlers will take on the Lady Unicorns on Oct. 4 to try and move up the ranks in the district while renewing San Marcos and New Braunfels’ I-35 rivalry.

San Marcos will have a chance at get back on Oct. 14 in their second matchup against Steele when they travel to Cibolo. Before that, the purple and white will be heading down to Converse. The Lady Rattlers will take on Judson (8-26, 0-2) in their next match on Sept. 30 where they’ll look to bounce back from the loss.