Lady Cats Volleyball Coach Justin Maness says usually when a team goes 0-3 in a tournament, the coach is disappointed. But after the Lady Cats lost to Beckville, Tyler Lee and Tatum in pool play Thursday, Coach Maness says he saw positives in each contest. Beckville, the state’s #1 ranked team in Class 3A, won 2-0 over the Lady Cats but only took the first set, 27-25. The second was 25-18. The Lady Cats opened their next match with a 25-20 win over Tyler Lee before the host team rallied to win the last two sets, 25-21 and 25-15. Tatum defeated the Lady Cats, 2-0 winning 25-23 and 25-22. Coach Maness calls the Lady Cats’ pool the most competitive in the tournament. He says every match Thursday was a battle featuring lots of good rallies. Again Coach Maness emphasizes he has the Lady Cats playing a tough schedule this year to get ready for district play. He says by the time they get to district play, there shouldn’t be anything the Lady Cats have not seen. Coach Maness says every member of the team contributed Thursday. He calls Kaylee Jefferson consistent and he adds Autumn Tanton had a great day. Coach Maness says Mieke VanBenthem also played well. Anden Hammack shouldered most of the setting duties Thursday and Coach Maness says she did a good job. He was also impressed with the Lady Cats’ defensive play. He praised Sadie Stroud, Imani Taylor and Maggie McGlamery for their ability to prevent balls from hitting the floor. In stats, against Tatum, Jefferson had 9 kills, Mieke VanBenthem 7, Tanton 6 and Lexie Whisenhunt 3. Hammack had 20 assists. Jefferson had 10 digs with McGlamery, Taylor and Hammack with 5 digs apiece. Against Beckville, Tanton had 6 kills, Erika VanBenthem had 3 and Jefferson 3. Hammack had 15 assists. Hammack had 14 digs with McGlamery and Jefferson with 11 apiece. Against Tyler Lee, Tanton, Abbi Baier, Mieke Van Benthem and Jefferson each had 8 kills. Hammack had 28 assists. Jefferson had 17 digs and McGlamery, Taylor and Hammack all had 6 digs. Tanton had a block solo and three block assists. Mieke VanBenthem and Jefferson had three block assists.
The Lady Cats are now 10-9 for the season. They will play host to Caddo Mills Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Wildcats Gym. Freshmen and JV games will follow. The Lady Cats will return to play in the Tyler tournament Saturday at 9 a.m. If they win, they will play against at 1 p.m. and if they win that one, they will play once more at 6 .m.
