Westwood sweeps past Lake Travis
Maddi Kriz totals 16 kills as Warriors win in straight sets.
Maddi Kriz and the Westwood Warriors picked up a statement victory Monday, defeating Lake Travis 25-19, 26-24, 25-22 in a nondistrict showdown of two of the area’s top teams.
Kriz, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, totaled 16 kills with three blocks, Zoe Menendez added five blocks, and Kenzie Beckham had 26 assists for Westwood (11-1).
Lake Travis (5-4), coming off a strong showing at the Pearland tournament, pushed Westwood in a match that had much more intensity than most sweeps.
“This was a great match, it felt like a five-set battle,” said Westwood coach Tara Nelson. “The girls played great, and I saw a lot of improvement on our first touch, which is something we are really focusing on right now.”
The veteran Warriors outplayed Lake Travis in each of the three sets. Westwood got a lot of help from Lake Travis, which committed 22 errors.
The teams played even in the first set, with the Warriors leading 13-12. Westwood, however, put together a 6-2 run. Kriz and Maggie Stout had key kills in the run and Lake Travis committed five errors in that spurt.
“The hardest part right now is not having practice time the way the season is,” said Lake Travis coach Brandace Boren, who is in her fourth year with the Cavaliers. “We must learn from our losses and grow. I love the seniors; they are my first class, and they are such great role models.”
Westwood raced to an early lead in the second set but Lake Travis rallied with a 6-1 run to knot the score at 17. Kristen Kleymeyer, Jamison Wheeler and Sasha Rudich each had key kills as the Cavaliers set up set point, but a kill and two blocks by Kriz helped Westwood take the second set.
Kriz and Kleymeyer led their respective teams in a taut third set before Beckham set Kriz to give Westwood a 24-22 edge. Menendez then slammed home the match point.