The Aledo Ladycats finished off the regular season Friday, Oct. 23, with a 3-0 sweep at home over the Arlington Lamar Vikings, winning with scores of 25-7, 25-12, 25-21.
Aledo ended the regular season with a perfect record in district play at 14-0 and an overall record of 34-7. The Ladycats never lost a district set, combining for 42-0 in set play throughout every district match this season.
“It’s a really big thing to go undefeated in [district] sets and matches throughout the season,” Aledo head coach Claire Gay said. “That’s a lot of Tuesdays and Fridays to be staying focused in, and I think that we did a good job throughout the season all working together. All 16 girls made it happen, and they all got opportunities and did some really good things throughout the process.”
Aledo raced to a 13-3 lead in the first set against Lamar. After a timeout Lamar scored three more to cut the deficit to 13-6, but three straight points for Aledo headlined by an ace by Kaelee Berkley and a kill by right-side hitter Lily Morris increased the lead back up to 10 at 16-6. From there, Aledo only conceded one point.
Aledo started the second set with two consecutive kills by Berkley and middle-blocker Leighton Lindley. Lamar took the lead at 5-4, but a kill by outside-hitter Avery Pipkins gave Aledo a 6-5 lead that it wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the set. Three consecutive aces by Alondra Delgado to increase Aledo’s 18-10 lead to 21-10 late were instrumental in the Ladycats’ set win.
The third set, contrary to the first two, was closer and more of a battle for the Ladycats. Lamar started off the set with a 5-2 lead, which was its largest lead of the night. Two straight kills by Pipkins and middle-blocker Mia Combs gave Aledo the lead at 10-9. Aledo eventually opened up the lead to six points at 20-14, but Lamar went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 22-21. Following a timeout, Aledo scored three straight points to end the set, with two of those points coming from consecutive kills by outside-hitter Brynlee Schneider.
Berkley led the Ladycats in kills with 11, with Pipkins coming in at seven. Delgado’s four aces led Aledo, which combined for a total of nine. Setter Harper Harbuck led Aledo with 18 assists, and libero Karsyn Evans led with 27 digs. Aledo as a team combined for six blocks.
“I think that (Delgado and Schneider) stepped in and did their job when it was needed,” Gay said about individual player contributions in the match. “Sometimes, it’s kind of a last-minute, ‘Hey, you’re going in’ for these players, and I’m grateful that they’re ready to play at any given moment.”
Aledo will play Keller High School in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 29, in a neutral-site match at Azle High School. Keller finished with a 21-11 overall record and a 9-5 record in its district, taking fourth place.
Aledo and Keller matched up Aug. 11 in the first game of the regular season. Aledo won in a sweep with scores of 25-22, 25-21, 25-15.
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