Sulphur Springs | Volleyball
Sulphur Springs Lady Cats rallied from an 0-2 deficit Tuesday, but the comeback fell short as they lost 3-2 at home to rival Greenville.
The Lady Lions, one of the top teams in the district volleyball race, bolted to a quick 2-0 lead. The Lady Cats came storming back with an inspired effort but losing the Tuesday match. The Lady Cats loss dropped them to 22-16 overall, 3-5 in district. They remain tied for fourth, clinging to playoff hopes with two games left.
Greenville went to 7-1 in district, 25-13 overall. The Lady Lions have already clinched a playoff berth and are aiming for a district volleyball title.
“I’m proud of our effort. We played hard coming back from being down early; we just didn’t finish. We woke up in the third set and were rocking and rolling heading into the fifth set, but we missed too many serves. We had our opportunities,” said Bailey Dorner, Lady Cats head coach.
Sadie Washburn pounded home 18 kills to lead Sulphur Springs and her sister, Sydney Washburn, was next with eight kills. Parris Pickett added 24 digs, and Peyton Hammack contributed 36 assists.
After the first two sets, it appeared Greenville would win the match in record time. The visitors took the first set 25-21 and won the second by a 25-19 score.
The match turned in the third set. It was bitter battle with the score tied five times in the early going. Brooklyn Burnside turned in a big kill, and Pickett had steady serving to keep the Lady Cats close. Sulphur Springs broke an 11-all tie to edge ahead and get the lead and never look back. Greenville, a team that had hit all the lines with deadly accuracy in the first two sets of the match, started missing shots as the Lady Cats rallied.
Czhela Moya and Pickett turned in key service points, while Sydney Washburn and Erika VanBenthem got points at the net. The match went to 2-1 with the Lady Cats winning 25-20 in the third set.
The fourth set was a carbon copy of the third. The teams traded points early, and the Lady Cats staged a late rally. The set was tied at 14-all only to see the home team soar for an 11-4 scoring run to win.
Key points came from Sadie Washburn with serves by Moya and Burnside. The Lady Cats took the fourth set, 25-18 to deadlock the match at 2-all.
The fifth and pivotal set went the way of the visitors, 15-13, in a nail-biting tightly-contested match.
The score was tied 10 times with neither team able to pull away. Tied at 13-all, Greenville came up with a service ace, and the Lady Cats contributed an errant shot. The match was decided with Greenville taking the fifth set by a 15-13 final.
“We can bounce back from this. We have two district games left. We need to win Friday when we play in Mount Pleasant,” said Dorner.
In sub-varsity play Tuesday, Sulphur Springs won the junior varsity match, 25-9 and 25-16; the Lady Cat freshmen won 25-12 and 25-15.
Senior Night is set for Tuesday, Oct. 29 at home against Texas High. Seniors will be honored after the first game.