By Ryan Mayner
The Lehman Lady Lobos volleyball team was defeated 3-1 by the Akins Lady Eagles Friday night in a 6A Region II District 14 matchup at Lobo Gym. The final tally was 25-17, 22-25, 25-27, 22-25.
The Lady Lobos got off to a fast start, forcing Akins to burn its first time out already down 10-5, and again at 17-12. Senior libero Ofelia Negrete scored consecutive points with a kill and then a serving ace to put the home team up 21-16.
Cheyenne Morgan then put the exclamation point on the 25-17 first set victory with an emphatic kill of her own. As well as Lehman played, it was only its second set won all season in the newly formed 6A.
Coach Megan Cooper said, “It was an awesome set! I thought we were going to carry it all the way through the night.”
Lehman had displayed superior movement and ball control in the first set, but in the second set their opponent came out firing. Akins kept a steady lead throughout the frame, forcing Coach Megan Cooper to call timeout multiple times to rally her troops. Cooper’s friendly demeanor began to turn as her team’s attempts to rally again and again were thwarted. Finally, at 13-19, the Lady Lobos made their move. They fired off five straight points, forcing Akins to take its first timeout of the second set. The crowd had filled up now, and Lehman fans were screaming “Side out!” whenever the Eagles held serve.
Lehman had successfully clawed its way back to tie the game at 20-20. There were competing chants of “Let’s-go, let’s-go!” on each side, and stomping on the bleachers to that beat. When the volleyball was hit off a Lobo player’s diving attempt, it seemed like the entire team dove after the loose ball, but it landed out of bounds. When it bounced up into Cooper’s hands, she looked as if she were ready to join the match herself. Instead, she calmly tossed the ball to the referee.
Akins won that set and the next two as well, coming back strongly from that opening loss. Lehman still hasn’t won a district game, but they came closer than they had all year. Cooper said, “I’m not disappointed in how we played, just how we finished.”
There were several bright spots for the Lady Lobos. #5 Negrete is undersized, but she almost works like a coach on the court, directing traffic and almost always seeming to be in the right place at the right time. The team overall is undersized, but #10 Twyla Garcia lent an effective presence on the front line, leading a certain fan to proclaim for all to hear, “I love you, Twyla!” And #13 Morgan showed that she is an effective all-around player, as well as a gifted singer.
