By Spencer Spilman
In a non-conference game Tuesday night, the Hays High Lady Rebels faced off against the Austin High Lady Maroons, and despite a late run from the Maroons, the Rebels closed out Austin in three straight games, 25-13, 25-13, 25-23.
The Rebels got off to a fast start thanks to two big spikes from senior Sydney Paradeaux and several aces from senior Melaine Harrington. A spike from Sundara Chinn gave Hays a 9-2 lead and they never looked back from there. Paradeaux and Harrington continued to dominate at the net and on their serves. After a kill from both players, Harrington served up an ace to put the Rebels in front with a commanding 21-11 lead. After a Maroon point, Paradeaux showed off her touch with a delicate one handed bump over the charging Austin defenders.
After two Maroon mistakes, game one wrapped up – Hays 25, Austin 13.
Game two started much like the first. Hays got out to an early lead behind the service game of Shannon Park and the net presence of Taylor Britton, who came up with a huge block. Paradeaux continued to pound the Lady Maroons with two hard slams. As the defense adjusted to her power, she adjusted to the defense. A two handed set with perfect placement gave the Rebels a 10-3 lead. A series of errors from the Maroons gave the Rebels a 16-5 lead and they weren’t going to let Austin back into game two. Another kill from Harrington and an ace from Kathryn Wristen gave Hays a 21-10 lead. Austin continued to fight, but after the Maroons’ Katherine Sasser had a hard spike for a score, they still found themselves down 24-13. They only needed one more point to decide the outcome of the second game. The Rebels took game two 25-13.
Game three was Austin’s best game of the night. Although they fell 0-3 to start the game, they battled back behind the service game of Anna Carlson and found themselves up 6-3. A much-needed timeout from Hays was followed by a kill from Chinn and an ace by Madison McCauley. A four point Rebel run was followed by a five point run from the Maroons. With the Maroons up 17-11, they appeared to be in control until a big spike and four straight aces from Paradeaux brought the game to a 20-20 tie. Both teams traded points and Hays tied the game up one last time at 23-23 when Harrington came up with a timely kill. Paradeaux, who led the team with 14 kills, finished game three off with two strong spikes to win the match for the lady Rebels 25-23.
