Dezaray Garner and Rachel Normand sky for a kill attempt in Hays' four-game loss to district-leading Canyon Tuesday night. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
Navigating through District 27-4A this volleyball season has been like trying to swim through shark-infested water.
Just when you think momentum is on your side, there’s a state-ranked team ready to take a chunk out of you.
After knocking off No. 23 Alamo Heights to end the first round of district play, Hays fell to No. 20 Smithson Valley last week in a tantalizing five-game match.
Tuesday night, it was the best of the best so far in 27-4A, Canyon High, that invaded Bales Gym to take on the Lady Rebels.
The Cougarettes, ranked No. 9 in Class 4A, were undefeated in league action before falling against Alamo Heights on Friday night.
The Lady Rebels made Canyon work, but in the end could not give the Cougarettes a two-match losing streak. Canyon won a hard-fought match 25-23, 13-25, 25-19, 25-22.
“I told the girls I was very proud of how they played,” Hays head coach Erica Walther said. “We match up very well with Canyon on offense, I think they are just a little quicker than we are defensively.”
The loss drops Hays to 24-17 overall and 5-4 in district, good for fourth place in the overall standings. Canyon improved to 33-10 and 8-1.
“We’re still in a solid position to make the playoffs,” Walther said. “We’re going to work on our conditioning the next couple of weeks so we can win matches like these.”
Tuesday night, it was too much of Canyon outside hitter Rafae Strobos that ultimately doomed the Rebels.
Strobos, who finished with 21 kills, was seemingly all over the court and came up with the big shots when the Cougarettes needed them most.
Strobos had four kills late in a key back-and-forth first game in which neither team led by more than two points.
Sydney Paradeaux, who finished with 21 kills of her own for Hays, and Kaylea Beck, who had 16 kills, tried to rally the Lady Rebs, but two Strobos kills and two Hays errors late in game four ended the match.
The Lady Rebs are back in action Friday night when they host Lockhart at 6:30 p.m.
