• Square-facebook
  • X-twitter
  • Instagram
Time to read
1 minute
Read so far

Ladycats sweep Moran to inch closer to first-place

Mon, 10/15/2018 - 3:03 pm
  •  
    Newcastle head coach Paige Hauger along with assistant Layton Westmoreland talk to their team of consisting of Nicole Martinez, Arryn Eli, Kelsi New, Hannah Shanks, Amy Martinez, Hannah Manos, Kelsey Shields and Shyla Hardin on Tuesday against Moran. Leader photo by Travis Martinez
sports@grahamleader.com

Even on a day when the second-place team can go win the state championship, the Newcastle High School volleyball team still values a district championship. Although the team is right in contention for the title, their head coach admits her team is aiming for bigger things.

“Our goal since day one has been to be the best we can be every time we step out on the court,” said head coach Paige Hauger, as her squad rallied late in two of the three sets to beat Moran 25-22, 25-22, 25-9 Tuesday at Newcastle High School. “Ultimately we are continuing to prepare ourselves for our playoff run more than anything, not focusing on anything else.”

The Lady Bulldogs did not go down without a fight on Tuesday, nor did they give up when they went up against one of the more talented teams in district.

With the win, Newcastle (16-11 overall, 7-2 in District 6-2A) has set itself up for a potential to finish among the top teams in league play. Class 2A Hawley remains above everyone else in district completion, but would go to the 2A bracket once playoffs begin in a few weeks.

The Ladycats had to dig deep after beginning the match in a deep whole. Moran jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening set behind three aces from Jenna Wieber.

Newcastle had to come from behind after facing early deficits of 0-8, 6-15 and 12-18 before the Ladycats began to use their size and strengths to overwhelm the Lady Bulldogs.

“It wasn’t our best game as a team” the first-year coach said. “We were able to turn it on at the right moments and made a lot of good things happen. Ultimately, we came out with a win and I’ll take that over the alternative. This late in the season, we can’t afford mental errors so we will have to get back to work in practice and continue to work towards our playoff run coming up so it doesn’t happen again.”

Needing to get on a run to get back into the set, the Ladycats responded. Senior Arryn Eli served a perfect pass...

For the rest of the story please subscribe to our online or print editon of The Graham Leader.