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Lady Dawgs fall to Amarillo High
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| Midland High's Stephanie Henry hits the ball against Amarillo High Saturday afternoon. Photo by Reid Merritt 9/6/08 |
By Richard D. Lee
Sports Writer
Faced with the herculean task of taking on two-time defending state champion Amarillo High, the Midland High volleyball team held its own for much of Saturday’s match at the MHS gymnasium, but in the end the Lady Sandies still came out with a win. Amarillo High beat Midland High 25-10, 25-16, 25-23 to stay undefeated in District 2-5A.
“I was of proud of our team,” MHS head coach Terri McColloch said. “We weren’t intimidated, we didn’t back down, we hustled hard. That’s what I asked of my girls, to do those things, and they did.”
Amarillo (26-3, 3-0 District 2-5A), which came into the match ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN, showed exactly why many consider them to be not only one of the top teams in the state of Texas, but one of the best in the nation.
“They’re the strongest team in the district,” McColloch said. “And not just the district, but the state.”
From the word go, Amarillo came out with a devastating attack in the first game behind the presence of a pair of senior outside hitters, 6-foot-2 inch Tori Campbell and 5-foot-10 inch Aryn Bohannon.
Campbell and Bohannon took turns dishing out kill after kill against a smaller MHS frontline, however MHS stood tall and was still in striking range midway through the first at 15-8.
However, a plethora of Lady Bulldog errors, coupled with some timely Amarillo hitting spelled doom for the home team. The Lady Sandies scored 10 of the next 12 points to put MHS away and take the first game 25-10.
“I felt the first game we played almost flawlessly,” Amarillo head coach Jan Barker said. “I thought we had a really good first game.”
Amarillo held a five point working margin throughout the majority of the second game due in large part to a slew of MHS service errors. The Lady Bulldogs pulled within three points on three different occaisions but did themselves in with poor serving.
“Those were some momentum breakers,” McColloch said. “When we did something really, really good we turned around and had an unforced error.”
Said Barker, “That game could have been different if they hadn’t missed so many serves.”
Down two games, MHS showed resolve in the third, giving the Lady Sandies all they could handle. Twelve ties and five lead changes set the score at 23 before Amarillo notched the last two points — the final coming on a Lady Bulldog service error — to win the match.
“They had more man power and a lot more height than we did,” McColloch said. “But we fought hard, hustled hard and did a better job as the match went on.”
MHS (17-8, 1-2) must now regroup and get ready for Odessa Permian on Tuesday.
“This loss is not a dealbreaker because everybody in the district is up against the same thing,” McColloch said. “This match isn’t going to cost us anything because Amarillo High is that good.”
Amarillo High def. Midland High
25-10, 25-16, 25-23
Midland High Statistics
Kills — Stephanie Henry 10, Brianna Dory 5, Laura Price 5, Kristin Culp 2 Mills Davis 2, Janelle Gillean 2
Digs — Kortni Ragan 8, Culp 8, Ashley Collier 5, Price 4, Davis 4, Henry 4, Gillian 3, Caroline Baker 1
Blocks — Gillean 2, Dory 1, Henry 1, Collier 0.5
Assists — Collier 21
Aces — Gillean 1, Price 1
“I was of proud of our team,” MHS head coach Terri McColloch said. “We weren’t intimidated, we didn’t back down, we hustled hard. That’s what I asked of my girls, to do those things, and they did.”
Amarillo (26-3, 3-0 District 2-5A), which came into the match ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN, showed exactly why many consider them to be not only one of the top teams in the state of Texas, but one of the best in the nation.
“They’re the strongest team in the district,” McColloch said. “And not just the district, but the state.”
From the word go, Amarillo came out with a devastating attack in the first game behind the presence of a pair of senior outside hitters, 6-foot-2 inch Tori Campbell and 5-foot-10 inch Aryn Bohannon.
Campbell and Bohannon took turns dishing out kill after kill against a smaller MHS frontline, however MHS stood tall and was still in striking range midway through the first at 15-8.
However, a plethora of Lady Bulldog errors, coupled with some timely Amarillo hitting spelled doom for the home team. The Lady Sandies scored 10 of the next 12 points to put MHS away and take the first game 25-10.
“I felt the first game we played almost flawlessly,” Amarillo head coach Jan Barker said. “I thought we had a really good first game.”
Amarillo held a five point working margin throughout the majority of the second game due in large part to a slew of MHS service errors. The Lady Bulldogs pulled within three points on three different occaisions but did themselves in with poor serving.
“Those were some momentum breakers,” McColloch said. “When we did something really, really good we turned around and had an unforced error.”
Said Barker, “That game could have been different if they hadn’t missed so many serves.”
Down two games, MHS showed resolve in the third, giving the Lady Sandies all they could handle. Twelve ties and five lead changes set the score at 23 before Amarillo notched the last two points — the final coming on a Lady Bulldog service error — to win the match.
“They had more man power and a lot more height than we did,” McColloch said. “But we fought hard, hustled hard and did a better job as the match went on.”
MHS (17-8, 1-2) must now regroup and get ready for Odessa Permian on Tuesday.
“This loss is not a dealbreaker because everybody in the district is up against the same thing,” McColloch said. “This match isn’t going to cost us anything because Amarillo High is that good.”
Amarillo High def. Midland High
25-10, 25-16, 25-23
Midland High Statistics
Kills — Stephanie Henry 10, Brianna Dory 5, Laura Price 5, Kristin Culp 2 Mills Davis 2, Janelle Gillean 2
Digs — Kortni Ragan 8, Culp 8, Ashley Collier 5, Price 4, Davis 4, Henry 4, Gillian 3, Caroline Baker 1
Blocks — Gillean 2, Dory 1, Henry 1, Collier 0.5
Assists — Collier 21
Aces — Gillean 1, Price 1
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| Longhorns roll by UTEP, 42-13 | Crane hangs on to beat Greenwood, 27-21 |
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