Lady Roos bow out to Byron Nelson in bi-district
Oct. 31—HASLET — After finishing third place in District 3-6A, Region I, the Weatherford Lady Kangaroos volleyball team faced off against the Byron Nelson Lady Bobcats, who finished second place in District 4-6A, Region I. In the end, Byron Nelson ended Weatherford's season at V.R. Eaton High School on Monday night in straight sets by a final score of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-10.
"They passed consistently off our serves and were able to set up their hitters from there," Lady Roos head coach Karli Morrison said of Byron Nelson. "They had two really good opposite side hitters, two really good outside hitters and two really good middles — that's a lot to be able to defend. They're in a pretty tough district where they are fighting for their lives every game, which is no excuse since we had to fight in the same way in our district this year."
The best of the action came in the first set, where Weatherford held a lead in the early-going at 4-3 after a kill from junior middle Maris Boop. Byron Nelson wrestled the lead away at 7-4 following a 4-0 scoring spurt, but a thunderous kill from star sophomore outside hitter Claire Conner trimmed the deficit to 7-5. After a 3-0 run from the Lady Bobcats, however, Weatherford called a timeout to regroup.
From there, the Lady Roos were able to stay within five points of Byron Nelson through most of the opening set with Conner, senior Jordan Northcutt and junior Kinley Kemp amongst those contributing to Weatherford's offense.
"I thought when we were in system, we were able to hang with them," Morrison said. "But, when it got to the dig wasn't good, it put some harder strains on us. From there, we couldn't make the offensive moves that we wanted to make off of those plays."
Hard-hit balls from Byron Nelson's frontline players proved a tall order to dig up at times, and the Lady Bobcats were able to pound away for a victory in the opening set after pulling away late.
Weatherford continued to compete in the second set as it again opened up with an early lead. Byron Nelson tied the score at 5-5, but a tip from senior Jodie Kreipe put the Lady Roos in front at 6-5. A few points later, Byron Nelson won the best point of the match on a long rally between the two teams. The ball crossed the net at least six times as several Lady Roos showed all-out effort with numerous diving one-handed digs to keep the ball alive. The point gave Byron Nelson a 9-7 lead and the following point made it a 10-7 advantage, forcing Weatherford to call a timeout.
The Lady Roos were able to pull within six points after a large run by Byron Nelson, but the Lady Bobcats closed out the set on a 6-1 run, turning a 19-13 advantage into a 25-14 victory in the second set. Byron Nelson got out to a big lead and held off Weatherford in the third to secure the sweep and Bi-District Championship.
The Lady Roos (23-24, 9-5) showed plenty of fight, according to their coach, and the season they put together proved to be pivotal in laying down the foundation for next season.
"I think this year, it's been about trying to find our identity. It was about discovering who we were while working through some things — learning how to get along as a team while playing without the bigs we had up front last year," Morrison said. "We realized we didn't need to be like them but, instead, creating our own face and what we wanted things to look like going forward. We dropped some sets in district that we really shouldn't have, but at the same time, the way we finished showed our grit. I think a lot of growth needs to happen with the group we will have returning — we have three seniors graduating who made a difference for us — but you're always going to be graduating players each year. I think we have to grow and get better each year."
