Inconsistent play against the hot-hitting Lake Travis Cavaliers sunk the Hays Rebels in a 16-25, 21-25, 21-25 loss Friday at Bales Gym.
Amid the search for a solid lineup, Hays head coach Stephanie Coates said stressing consistent play, but also rectifying errors, is critical as the Rebels march near the midpoint of the district season.
Hays (16-16, 2-3 in district) was unable to corral the Cavalier front line of senior Kristen Kleymeyer and senior Cassidy Ehrie, who combined for 17 of the 33 Lake Travis kllls in the match. Keymeyer finished with a team high 10 kills, while Ehrie had seven.
“When you make that many errors with a tough team like Lake Travis, and give them that little opening, they are going to take advantage and run right through that,”
–Stephanie Coates, Hays head volleyball coach
Coates said the Rebels countered with the play of sophomore Maddie Krafka, who led the team with ten kills in the match. Krafka’s .304 hitting percentage proved to be a problem for Lake Travis to contend with.
The Rebels also were their own worst enemy at times. Errors in nearly every phase of the court on the Rebels’ end gave the Cavaliers the opportunity to strike and capitalize. The Rebels had 18 attacking errors and five service errors on offense, along with 10 block errors and 19 dig errors on the defensive end.
“When you make that many errors with a tough team like Lake Travis, and give them that little opening, they are going to take advantage and run right through that,” Coates said.
Those issues surfaced in the first set when Hays leapt out to a 7-3 lead, only to have Lake Travis (21-11, 5-0) outscore them 22-6 the rest of the way.
A similar theme followed in the second frame when the Rebels took a 10-5 lead, but were unable to maintain momentum in the rest of the set. In the third frame, Hays took a 9-6 lead, but then conceded a short Lake Travis run that got them back into contention.
Despite fighting back and tying the third set at 20-20, Lake Travis outpaced Hays for a 5-1 run to end the match.
For Coates, getting into a consistent rhythm is the operative goal. Injuries has led to the team playing with a variety of lineups over the past month, Coates said.
“We’re going to keep working and go back to practice every day and raise our expectations and continue to work hard and be more consistent,” Coates said. “A little more consistency and we’d be undefeated in district.”
