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(ALEX HAVARDANKSY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Emma Hawkins attempts a serve Saturday, Aug. 16. Hawkins is one of the veteran leaders of this Ladycats team. -
(ALEX HAVARDANKSY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Sophie Terrell goes up for a kill Saturday, Aug. 16. Terrell was a key contributor offensively throughout the Marlboro Man Memorial volleyball tournament. -
(ALEX HAVARDANKSY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kenzie King sets up in the front row defensively Saturday, Aug. 16. King’s efforts defensively helped keep the Ladycats in their contest during the championship match. -
(ALEX HAVARDANKSY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Aubree Clayton goes up for a block Saturday, Aug. 16, against Woodson. The Ladycats lost in their championship matchup.
The Newcastle Ladycats had a strong start to the season this week picking up an opening day win and showing out in the Marlboro Man Memorial Tournament.
The team kicked off their regular season Tuesday, Aug. 12, against Quanah and Archer City and beat both.
They followed this by traveling to Benjamin for the tournament this past weekend which took place Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 14-16.
The varsity team played its first set of games Aug. 15 and one all three matches against Wichita Christian, Knox City and Merkel.
Bracket play would begin Saturday, Aug. 16, with the Ladycats first opponent being Benjamin which was the host team.
Newcastle won the match in two sets to advance to the second round of the winners bracket.
Sophie Terrell was a consistent force at the service line helping the Ladycats jump out to a 9-4 lead in set two.
Kinzee Forbus was also a consistent presence on offense earning multiple points and kill attempts while Camren Mallory cleaned things up for the team defensively.
She had a block in the contest to help the Ladycats jump out to a 13-6 lead in set two and finished off the match with a point off a tip to help the team advance.
Newcastle’s next match would take place against Crowell where again the Ladycats made quick work of their opponent in two sets.
Emma Hawkins started things off in the contest with a point after sneaking one into Crowell’s defensive zone. Things then went back and forth for a while with the teams being dead locked at 11 all.
That's when the Ladycats started to create some distance capped off by a Mallory and Aubree Clayton team up for a block to make it 15-13.
Crowell fought back throughout the rest of the set but players like Clayton and Terrell bested the defense with soft tip plays to help lead the team to a 25-21 set one victory.
This set seemed to suck all the life out of Crowell as the Ladycats decimated them 25-12 in set two for the victory.
After this, it would be another seven hours before the Ladycats hit the court again for the championship match and that may have proven to halt their momentum somewhat.
The team met their Kryptonite in that match up against Woodson. The team fought hard but ultimately lost in two sets this time to end the day.
Kenzie King also definitely made an impression in this match with her abilities at both the service line and on defense. Despite the team trailing much of both sets, her ability, along with players like defensive specialist Flor Carranza, kept the team within striking distance throughout and helped players build opportunities on the floor.
Despite the loss, Ladycats head coach Ashley Archer saw a lot of positives come out of this tournament.
“We came back from behind multiple times this weekend,” Archer said. “So I think that shows a lot of grit that we haven’t seen in the last couple of years. We need to minimize unforced errors.”
After playing Crowell in a match Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Ladycats will travel for a tournament in Electra Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 21-23.
