Big Spring wins district battle against Lake View, now 4-3 in district play
SAN ANGELO — In a hard-fought game between two district rivals, the Big Spring Lady Steers (12-12, 4-3) prevailed over the Lake View Maidens (5-10, 1-5) in four sets on Tuesday night in San Angelo.
The Lady Steers had gone up 2-0 after the first two sets but the Maidens were not ready to go away that quickly. Lake View began to step their game up in the third set and were able to extend the game just short of being pushed to a decisive fifth set. Big Spring was able to come from behind to win the fourth set to win the game and complete their two-game season sweep of Lake View.
“If we would just learn to take care of that third set, we would be able to finish it early,” Lady Steers Head Coach Kaitlyn Braswell said.
The first set began with Lake View scoring first and Big Spring junior Ryen Terrazas quickly answering back with a kill of her own to tie the game up and get the scoring started for the Lady Steers. Senior Jocelyn Gonzales hit three straight ace serves during the first set to extend Big Spring's lead to four points. In total, the Lady Steers scored five straight points to go up 7-2.
The Lady Steers were showing off a strong ability to win the long, back-and-forth battles for a point. Some of those battles seemed to last minutes but usually always ended with a Lady Steer spiking the ball onto the Lake View of the court. There were kills made by Tristan Smith, Kortney Moore, and Kalyn Whitehead also sprinkled into the set and the Lady Steers were clicking on all cylinders. Mya Blanco made a play where her quick reflexes allowed her to dodge a serve that was heading out of bounds. Overall, the Lady Steers always seemed to be in the right position and were able to finish off the first set with a 25-19 win.
“I think our team chemistry is a big part of where we are. When we're down, it's because our chemistry's not up and we're not talking to each other. When we're on, you can tell it's because we're playing for each other and not just for ourselves,” Braswell said.
The second set was extremely competitive and Lake View jumped out to a 2-0 lead early. Jacqueline Belew then got the scoring started for the Lady Steers and Big Spring was able to take a 3-2 lead just moments later. Lake View then went on a short streak of their own and had a 7-5 lead before Moore put an end to their possession. A few plays later, Moore hit an ace serve of her own that gave the Lady Steers back the lead.
However, the Maidens were playing hard and went on a fourpoint scoring streak before Braswell was forced to call a timeout trailing 13-10. Big Spring was able to put together a string of nice plays and took the lead shortly thereafter. The Lady Steers then began to put some separation between themselves and the Maidens on their way to another set win. Whitehead performed a nice misdirection touch over the net that fell to the ground and gave the Lady Steers a 25-18 second set win.
The third set was even more competitive than the first two of the night. Lake View had jumped out to a 6-4 lead before the Lady Steers put together a series of strong plays by scoring seven straight points to take an 11-6 lead. That forced the Maidens to take a timeout and they came out of the break looking like a rejuvenated bunch.
With the game tied up at 15, the Maidens really began to put together some nice plays and forced Braswell to take both of her timeouts in a matter of minutes. Lake View then had a 2419 lead and just needed one more score to extend the game to another set. Big Spring's Gonzales then hit an ace serve and the Lady Steers were trying to put together a valiant comeback effort. However, a ball that appeared to be overshot that the Lady Steers avoided, ended up making it in the box and the Maidens won the third set 25-21.
Lake View dominated the beginning of the fourth set and jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The Lady Steers were having none of it and put together a strong set of their own to tie the game up at 14. The Lady Steers then took the lead and never looked back. Big Spring was up 24-19 and just needed one more point to end the game for good. Lake View then scored four straight points to force a Braswell timeout. The Lady Steers had finally decided they had enough and a strong kill ended the set (2523),and the game.
The Lady Steers have now swept district opponents Estacado and Lake View. They will now face-off against the three district teams that defeated them in their first meeting, with Saturday's trip to Snyder to take on the Lady Tigers looming.
What does Braswell think her team has learned to be able to take those district rivals down this time?
“Always respect your opponent. We see the potential that we have in glimpses. If we can play three sets against any other team in our district the way that we played the first two sets tonight, we'll fine,” Braswell said.
UP NEXT: The Lady Steers travel to firstplace Snyder on Saturday to take on the Lady Tigers at 12:00 p.m.
Shawn Moran is the sports writer at the Big Spring Herald. To contact him, e-mail sports@bigspringherald.com or call 432-263-7331.