By Spencer Spilman
The Hays High Lady Rebels overpowered cross-town rivals Lehman in three straight games Friday night, 25-11, 25-9, 25-14.
This was the first time the District 27-4A opponents faced off this season.
The Lobos home crowd was out in full force to cheer on their team, but they were quickly quieted by the Rebels play on the court.
The first game started off on a bad note for Lehman, when the opening serve went into the net. Hays’ Melaine Harrington served up an ace and the Lady Rebels never looked back. A kill from Taylor Britton and a perfectly placed cross-court kill from Sydney Paradeaux got the Rebels to an early 4-1 lead.
A kill from Kathryn Wristen and an ace by Madison McCauley had the Rebels in front 8-3 until Lehman senior Aleeya Eskridge stopped the run with a gentile bump over the Hays defenders. With the score at 10-4, the Lobos got a boost from Ofelia Negrete who made a timely dig on a hard hit ball by Hays, and the Lobos rallied back and won a long point.
Paradeaux, who had 20 kills in the match, continued her dominance at the net with powerful kills while Harrington scored six straight service points for the Rebels. A kill from Angel Cruz and Heidi Munoz helped the Lobos go on a three-point run of their own.
The crowd ignited when Lobos’ Cheyenne Morgan came up with a huge block at the net and gave the team a little life. However, behind the service game of McCauley and two kills from Shannon Park gave the Lady Rebels a 25-11 win in game one.
The Rebels came out firing in game two behind powerful kills at the net from Paradeaux. Wristen, who finished with six aces on the night, served for six straight Rebel points and stretched the lead to 10-3. The Lobos stopped the run with a soft one-touch kill from Haley Rohde but Hays just kept coming at them. A combined block at the net by Harrington and Sundara Chinn gave the Rebels an 18-5 lead. Harrington, who had six blocks on the night, added another in game two and after a few traded points, the Rebels finished on a Paradeaux kill to win 25-9.
Lehman continued to fight as players were diving all over the court, but the power at the net for Hays was just too much. Charlotte Andrews came off the bench and added to kills from Paradeaux, Britton, and Chinn to give the Rebels a commanding 13-2 lead in game three. Lehman got one back with a kill from Rohde, but it just was not enough to bring back the Lobos. With the score at 23-10, the Lobos put up one last fight with a big block from Gaby Montoya. They followed the block with kills from Cruz and Munoz, bringing the score to 23-14, but that was as much as they would get. Hays finished out the match with a 25-14 win in game three.
Next up for the Lobos, they travel to play Boerne Champon on Friday. Match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Hays hosts Seguin on Friday at Bales Gym. Due to homecoming, the match has been moved to 5:30 p.m.
