Hays setter Hannah Ramsey and the Lady Rebels swept past Lehman in three games to improve to 3-2 in district play Friday night. (Photo by Lincoln Ramirez)
by JASON GORDON
Both the Hays and Lehman volleyball teams got an added momentum boost to the starting lineup before Friday night’s rivalry match.
After both teams’ leading hitters, Hays’ Kaylea Beck and Lehmans’ Mariana Filipi, returned to the lineup after missing the better part of a month with injuries, the Lady Rebels and Lady Lobos were fired up for their match at Lehman High.
While all three games were close, it was the Lady Rebs that were able to walk away with a sweep (25-17, 25-15, 26-24) to improve their District 27-4A record to 3-2.
Beck led Hays with nine kills and 16 digs and gave head coach Erica Walther a varsity veteran to add to her young lineup.
Emily Clark also came up big for the Lady Rebs, slamming down four of her eight total kills in the match-clinching game three.
“It was great seeing Kaylea back out there,” Walther said. “We’ve been taking it slow with her injury to make sure she was ready when she got back out there and she played well. We’ll definitely need her presence on the court the rest of the season.”
Filipi played well, but appeared to reinjure herself during the match. She returned to help Lehman play a close game three.
“It’s nice to have Filipi back, but she’s not 100 percent yet,” Lehman head coach Gloria Sandoval said. “The girls have been playing hard with and without her. I was not disappointed with the way the girls played against Hays. I thought we gave the Rebels a good tough match and the girls are looking forward to playing them again later in the season.”
The Lady Lobos have now lost three in a row and will have to be in the win column soon if they want to get back in the race for a playoff spot.
“The girls will have to refocus on all the little things that were working earlier in the season,” Sandoval said. “We are trying out new lineups and new roles for players. Now it is just a matter of putting it all together as a team.”
Hays outside hitter Kelsea Sadler said she hopes Beck returning to the lineup will help over the next few weeks as the Lady Rebs try and earn one of 27-4A’s four playoff spots.”
“It was great having Kaylea back,” Sadler said. “It helped us get our spark back.”
Sadler added that it’s always nice to beat crosstown rival Lehman and she hopes the Lady Rebs, who beat Lockhart last Tuesday, can keep their momentum going.
“We hope this is the start of a long win streak,” Sadler said. “I think we are starting to play our best at the right time.”
