Cougarettes stay perfect in district
NEW BRAUNFELS — Fifthranked New Braunfels Canyon swept Kerrville Tivy 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 on Tuesday night in a District 26-5A matchup at Hardy Gymnasium.
The Cougarettes improved to 10-1 overall and 7-0 in district, while the Lady Antlers dropped to 8-4 and 4-2. The teams will meet again Nov. 7 in Kerrville.
“Our ability to spread the ball around made the difference tonight,” Canyon coach Heather Sanders said. “We got some big kills from our hitters whenever we needed to. I thought we established the middle early in the match, so that opened up some of our outside hitters. I also thought we served the ball tough.”
Junior outside hitter Kyla Malone led the team with eight kills, junior outside hitter McKenzie Woitena picked up seven, and sophomore outside hitter Maya Jones added six. Senior middle blocker Emma Jubela and sophomore middle blocker Courtney Pope each tallied five.
Tivy junior Ally Scheidle had a
match-high nine kills, while senior teammate Neva Henderson chalked up 13 assists.
The Lady Antlers opened the match by winning the first three points. After Tivy took a 7-5 lead, Canyon won the next five points
and led 10-7. The visitors closed to 14-9, but the Cougarettes took control with a six-point run.
Canyon had an easier time in the second set, running out to a 19-8 lead on its way to winning it 25-11.
The third set was more competitive, with the teams trading kills.
Tivy took an early 4-2 lead before Canyon went on a 6-2 run to lead 8-6. But the Lady Antlers kept it close and were down just 19-17 when Canyon went on a 6-1 run to close out the match.
“Communication and finding the middle in transition was a big motivation in the third set,” said senior outside hitter Erin Jones, who has committed to Angelo State.
The Cougarettes improved to 6-0 in their home gym and won their seventh straight match. Their only loss came Sept. 22 when Smithson Valley edged them 3-2 in a non-district match.
“Our team chemistry has gotten so much better (since the loss),” senior defensive specialist Addison Evans said. “Normally, when we didn’t have corona, we had a tournament. We didn’t get to have that, so we developed our chemistry in the preseason. Our chemistry is getting stronger and stronger.”
Canyon next visits Buda Johnson while Tivy hosts Boerne Champion in District 26-5A pairings at 6:30 p.m. Friday.