San Marcos avoids sweep, falls to Schertz Clemens

San Marcos avoided the sweep.

That’s no small feat against Schertz Clemens. The Lady Buffaloes have kept opponents from earning a set against them in 17 of their 32 matches this season.

The Lady Rattlers kept their name off that  list on Tuesday in a 3-1 road loss to Clemens. They’d dropped the first two sets of the match, 25-10 and 25-15, and needed some kind of spark to get them back in the game.

Senior middle blockers Devin Branch and Shyeann Lampkin came through in the third frame. The duo combined for 17 kills and eight blocks through the match as the team closed out and took a tight 25-23 game.

But while the offense began to click, the defense continued to struggle. San Marcos gave up a season-high 44 digging errors during the match. It’s recently been one of the team’s biggest flaws.

The Lady Rattlers have been a strong defense for most of the year. They averaged just 14.3 digging errors before district, it’s worst mark coming in a 2-1 loss to Temple on Aug. 17 in the Bastrop Invitational in which San Marcos surrendered 28.

As district play has started, though, the team has gotten worse in that area. Each game has either increased or tied it’s career high. The Lady Rattlers are averaging 34 digging errors per game across four matches, with at least 30 in each.

Their troubles continued on Tuesday night, with the 44 marking a new low as San Marcos fell in the final set, 25-12, and the match, 3-1.

The team is now 16-17 overall, the first time the Lady Rattlers have been below .500 since the loss to Temple, and 0-4 in district. They’ll look to earn their first district win on Friday against New Braunfels on Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Snake Pit.