Published: October 11, 2008 03:25 pm      

Hays makes quick work of Lehman

High School Volleyball

Buda — Four weeks after Lehman took the match to five sets, the Hays volleyball team made sure it wouldn’t happen again.

The Lady Rebels came out strong against the Lady Lobos on Friday night. Hays faltered a bit in the second set, but dominated the other two and cruised to a sweep at Oran Bales Gymnasium.

When Hays (20-15, 8-0) played Lehman (12-16, 2-6) during the first week of District 17-4A play, it might have taken the upstart school lightly. The Lady Rebels looked careless with the ball and struggled to find any rhythm.

From the first set, Hays looked like the undefeated district team it is. The Lady Rebels stormed out to a 14-5 lead, forcing Lady Lobo head coach Nikki Shuler to take a timeout.

“After going five games with this team the first time around, we wanted to make sure we came out strong and continued the intensity level the whole match,” Hays head coach Erica Walther said. “I think we kind of lost a little bit of focus in the second game, since we had a lot of errors.”

The Lady Rebels pounded Lehman in the first set, 25-12, but in the second, as Walther said, struggled. The Lady Lobos also stepped up their game, taking an early lead.

Lehman would send several balls into the net to let Hays take an 8-6 advantage, but would not fall too far behind. The Lady Lobos battled back to cut the Lady Rebel lead to 14-13, forcing Walther to call her first timeout.

After the break, Hays seemed to settle in, placing the balls where they needed to be. The Lady Rebels took a 22-19 lead, but Lehman fought tooth-and-nail. Three points later, the game was tied at 23-all, but Hays eventually won, 25-23.

“They were fighting hard, but the ball just didn’t go in our favor tonight,” Shuler said.

The Lady Lobos would get as close as 7-5 in the third and final set before the Lady Rebels poured it on. Lehman committed countless mistakes, allowing Hays to extend its lead.

Near the end, the Lady Lobos seemed to lose the fight they had earlier in the match. Lehman fell behind 23-14 and four points later, the Lady Rebels clinched the win.

“We wanted to take it in three games tonight and we accomplished our goal,” Walther said.

Becky Swann and Rachael McLamore led Hays in the win. Swann finished with nine kills and 14 digs, while McLamore had 26 assists and nine digs. McLamore also added two aces.

For the Lady Lobos, Ashley Fernandez played tall. She finished with eight kills and nine digs, while Nicole Morales led the team in assists with eight.



SMHS def. Del Valle, 3-2

The San Marcos volleyball team avenged their first loss in District 17-4A play by beating Del Valle on Friday night. The Lady Rattlers took five sets to dispatch of the Lady Cardinals.

San Marcos lost the first game 25-23, but battled back in the second (28-26) and third (25-18) to take the lead.

Del Valle wouldn’t go down without a fight as it outpaced the Lady Rattlers to a 25-19 win.

In the fifth and final set, the leaderhsip of Maggie Breed and Halae Williams took over.

San Marcos would never trail in the game and go on to win 15-8.

With the win, the Lady Rattlers moved into second place in District 17-4A. The win also gave SMHS head coach Michelle Moreno 100 wins in her coaching career.