Lehman’s Heidi Muñoz (right) propels herself high above the net to block a Crockett kill attempt as Lady Lobo teammate Cheyenne Morgan looks on. Lehman rallied against the Lady Cougars but ultimately lost a five-set match at home Tuesday night. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
by WES FERGUSON
The Lady Lobos are still a little rough around the edges. After all, they’re a young team, and the volleyball season is young too.
But setter Aleeya Eskridge can already tell one thing about her Lehman High teammates following a five-set (25-23, 25-13, 21-25, 24-26, 15-13) home loss at the hands of Austin Crockett on Monday – they’re fighters.
“We’ve come back in all the matches we’ve played so far, so I never think we’re out of it,” Eskridge said. “We never go out without a fight. That’s the one thing I can rely on with my team.”
Playing at home for the first time this season, Lehman started hot against the Lady Cougars in the first set, building an 8-3 lead with Cheyenne Morgan spiking the ball twice on a pair of assists from Eskridge. It went back and forth from there before the Lady Lobos claimed a 23-22 lead when Heidi Muñoz spiked another ball after a set from Eskridge.
“I picked people that I thought would put the ball away, and they delivered,” said Eskridge, who accounted for 15 of Lehman’s 22 assists for the night. “We all did what we were supposed to do.”
But with Lehman looking for a quick victory, Crockett answered with three straight points to win the first set, a turn of events that seemed to deflate the Lady Lobos as they collapsed in a 25-13 loss in the second set.
The third set wasn’t going much better for Lehman, which looked like it might get swept in three straight by Crockett. Afterward, Lady Cougars coach Lorie Henry admitted she thought the Lady Lobos were too far down to come back. But with Lehman behind 15-9, Gaby Montoya blocked a hard Lady Cougar spike to slow Crockett’s momentum. Within striking distance at 21-17 a few minutes later, Muñoz nailed two straight hard serves that landed for aces, sparking an 8-0 run that ended when Eskridge blocked two consecutive spikes to earn the Lady Lobos’ the third-set win to extend the match.
The teams traded leads in the fourth set until Lehman rallied again, digging out of a 20-23 hole on a block by Andi Moreno and another spike by Morgan. Lady Cougar miscues gave Lehman a 25-24 advantage, and sophomore libero Ofelia Negrete spiked a ball from the backcourt that clipped the net and barely rolled over, falling to the floor for the 26-24 win to extend the match to a deciding fifth set.
With the match tied at two sets apiece, the Lady Lobos fell behind early again, this time 8-2 in the fifth and final set. More Crockett mistakes helped the Lady Lobos mount yet another rally, and Lehman tied up the set twice – first on an ace serve by Negrete and then on a spike by Muñoz. But the Lady Cougars followed up with two straight points to close out the match 15-13, giving the Lady Lobos their first home loss of the season.
Morgan led the Lady Lobos with 10 kills, and Negrete posted 20 digs. Lehman head coach Megan Cooper said she can tell her team has the desire to win, and she believes the skills – and wins – will follow soon.
“I’ve known from the beginning that I have hustlers,” she said. “Their effort does not surprise me. Their attitude does not surprise me. I’m very, very proud of what we did tonight. We know it’s a work in progress, and give us a few more practices, a few more matches, and we’ll be there. Our goal is to be the best defensive team that we can possibly be and to wear out the opponents. We’ll be really good at serving and defense.”
Crockett’s coach said she was proud of the Lady Cougars for sticking it out for the victory, and she credited Lehman’s tenacity as well.
“Lehman fought the whole way though, all the way till the end. They made it exciting,” Henry said. “They gave us a good run for our money and really didn’t give up when I thought maybe they were out of it. They pushed all the way through to the end.”
The Lady Lobos won their first game of the season 3-0 last week against Del Valle. Lehman will play again at 6:30 p.m. Friday at home against Akins.
