Lady Blues sweep pool play, fall to Brock at Lu Allen

The Lady Blues suffered their first defeat of the season in an otherwise great showing at the 2019 Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. Despite sweeping pool play, the Lady Blues were downed by eventual champion Brock in the Gold Bracket.

The team opened the tournament 9-0 and things continued to look great during pool play throughout the day on Friday, Aug. 16. Although, the opening match continued what has been a series of slow starts for the Lady Blues.

It took three sets for the Lady Blues to defeat Holliday in the opening match of the tournament. Holliday jumped out to an early 6-0 lead over the Lady Blues before a serve went sailing out of bounds. The score quickly evened at 6 behind two kills from Addison Kimberling and one from Ashton Reese in the span. The score remained close throughout the first set and the Lady Blues came out victorious 25-23.

Neither team managed to take a clear advantage during the second set. Neither team could take an advantage of more than three points and Holliday evened the match with a 26-24 win.

The final set proved to be a tough one for both sides as once again neither team could get a good scoring run going. As in the second set, neither team gained more than a three-point lead. The Lady Blues took the 26-24 win to close out the match. Senior Alex Husen lead the Lady Blues with nine kills while junior Morgan Patterson provided support with 23 assists in the match.

Midland Greenwood provided less of a challenge in the second match as the Lady Blues cruised to a 25-8; 25-14 victory. Kimberling proved tough at the net once again with five blocks. Patterson added another 12 assists in the second match as well as two aces.

Caprock provided an early challenge for the Lady Blues in the third match of pool play. Neither team could take an advantage early in the set that was tied at 5-5 at one point. The Lady Blues put together an 11-2 run which forced Caprock to take a timeout with the score 16-7. With the score at 20-11, it appeared that the Lady Blues would cruise the rest of the way until Caprock rattled off a six-point run to get within three. In the end, it was the Lady Blues with a 25-22 victory.

The second set was much easier for the Lady Blues who jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead to force a Caprock timeout. The run continued and the Lady Blues held a 20-7 lead at one point in the set. Caprock tried to fight back in the end, but eventually fell to the Lady Blues 25-13.

In the final match of pool play, the Lady Blues defeated Archer City 25-11; 25-15. Kimberling continued her dominate play guarding the net with 11 blocks. Hannah Isom had eight blocks and Husen provided four.

The opening match of bracket play provided the Lady Blues an opportunity to exact revenge against the team that bumped them from championship contention in the 2018 tournament, Abilene High.

Lu Allen Pool Play Final Results (Aug. 16)

Pool A
1. Brock (4-0); 2. Fort Worth Christian (3-1); 3. Jim Ned (2-2); 4. Bryson (1-3); 5. Hirschi (0-4).

Pool B
1. Victory Christian (3-1); 2. Carl Albert (3-1); 3. Denver City (2-2); 4. Waxahachie Life (1-3); 5. Breckenridge (1-3).

Pool C
1. Graham (4-0); 2. Caprock (3-1); 3. Midland Greenwood (1-3); 4. Archer City (1-3); 5. Holliday (1-3).

Pool D
1. Clyde (4-0); 2. Pilot Point (3-1); 3. Palo Duro (1-3); 4. Burkburnett (1-3); Windthorst (1-3).

Pool E
1. Jacksboro (4-0); 2. Vernon (3-1); 3. Abilene Wylie JV (2-2); 4. Eastland (1-3); 5. Newcastle (0-4).

Pool F
1. Nocona (4-0); 2. Abilene High (3-1); 3. Hawley (2-2); 4. Mineral Wells (1-3); 5. Miller Grove (0-4).

For the rest of the story, see the Wednesday, Aug. 21 edition of The Graham Leader.