H.S. Volleyball: Palestine can't close games in district-opening loss

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September 18, 2012

H.S. Volleyball: Palestine can't close games in district-opening loss

By JUSTIN RAINS Palestine Herald-Press The Palestine Herald-Press Tue Sep 18, 2012, 09:53 PM CDT

The Palestine volleyball team found that, even in volleyball, it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.

The Ladycats held early leads in all four games against visiting Mexia Tuesday, but managed to hold on to only one as the Blackcats topped Palestine, 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23) to open District 19-3A play.

“I fee like we’ve got a few rotations where we didn’t pass real well,” PHS coach Lisa Hampton said. “Then, we had to switch from a double block to a single block because we weren’t fast enough to keep up with their setter. We just weren’t reading (the sets) well.”

Palestine led 5-3 early in Game 1 before Mexia stormed back with a 7-0 run to take a 10-5 lead.

But, Palestine clawed back into the game itself, tying the contest at 17-17 on a Dana Whitehead kill.

From there, the teams went back-and-forth, with neither able to gain more than a two-point lead on the other.

Palestine looked ready to take the game when a Mexia net violation put the Ladycats up 24-22, but it wasn’t to be.

The next Ladycat serve went out of bounds, and a Mexia kill tied the game at 24.

From there, another Mexia kill and an ace ended things for Palestine, giving Mexia a 1-0 lead.

Game 2 started similarly, with Palestine taking an even bigger 7-2 lead — a lead the Ladycats again weren’t able to keep.

Mexia tied the game up at 10-10, and slowly extended it until the Lady Blackcats led 20-14.

Palestine attempted to get back in the game with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to two, and the Ladycats then tied things up at 22 on a kill from Whitehead.

But, Mexia ended the game on a 3-0 run to go up 2-0.

Palestine owned Game 3 from about the midway point on, taking the lead for good at 15-14 and never looking back en route to the 25-16 victory.

After a slight lead early in Game 4, Palestine again fell behind and could never quite catch up.

Mexia retook the lead at 6-5 and never gave it up. Palestine managed to tie the contest at 13-13 and 19-19, but never took control.

Two-straight kills from Arion Sandifer and Dana Whitehead got Palestine to within one at 23-22, but Mexia held on for the victory.

Whitehead finished with 17 kills and two assists for Palestine, while Karisma Smith had eight kill.

Alana Whitehead had a team-high 10 assists, and GiGi Spreen had four in the loss.

With the loss, Palestine dropped to 13-9 on the year and 0-1 early on in district play. But, Hampton said she wasn’t worried, and was in fact encouraged by her team’s play against what she sees as a strong Blackcat squad.

“I feel real good about it,” Hampton said. “If we can hang in with Mexia, we’ll hang in with everybody.”

Palestine is off Friday, and returns to action Tuesday in Fairfield.

CAYUGA 3, Dawson 0

The eighth-ranked Cayuga volleyball team remained perfect in district play Tuesday, rolling to an easy sweep of Dawson at home, 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-16).

Danielle Anderson led Cayuga with a huge night. The junior middle blocker had 18 kills for Cayuga, while senior outside hitter Shawnta Knox had 15 kills and six aces.

Molly Griffey had 31 assists and eight digs, while Megan Davis had three blocks to lead the Cayuga defense.

The Ladycats (18-8, 4-0) return to action Saturday when they travel to Kerens. Games begin at 2 p.m.

———

Coaches or team representatives are encouraged to call in scores and stats to 903-729-0281 ext. 242 by 9:30 p.m. after games or to email sports@palestineherald.com

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H.S. Volleyball: Palestine can't close games in district-opening loss

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