Lady Roos season ends in bi-district

The Weatherford Lady Roo volleyball team had its season come to an end in a 3-0 sweep by a hard-hitting V.R. Eaton team on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Wiley Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City.
Weatherford came into the match as the underdogs as a two-seed while Eaton was a one seed after finishing second in a tough district that also included Southlake Carroll, Byron Nelson and Keller at the top of the district.
The big thing Lady Roo coach Courtney Hammett warned her players about heading into the match was to watch out for the big-time Lady Eagle outside-hitters Lexi Martin, who is a Texas Christian University commit, and Landri Trice.
"We knew the caliber of team we were playing," Hammett said. "We knew the kids they have. We knew the hitters they have. We knew no matter what happened every single point was going to be a battle. Battle was the word of the night for us. We just kept saying battle. We struggled with that a little bit. We let mistakes compound to three, four or five points."
The first set started competitively with Weatherford trailing 8-7 before Eaton went on a five-point run, feasting off of four errors from the Lady Roos as the Lady Eagles’ lead ballooned to 13-7. Weatherford could not make up the difference, falling behind 22-13 near the end of the set.
The Lady Roos won six of the last nine points to build some momentum, getting three kills from Ava Broadie, a kill and a block from Isabelle Hale, a block from Eloise Beauchamp and a kill from Laine Tomlinson. Still, Eaton won the first set 25-19.
The momentum Weatherford had at the end of Set 1 didn’t transition to Set 2. The Lady Eagles had three service aces and jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start, forcing the Lady Roos to switch up its substitutions and sub Samantha McCall into the back row.
McCall helped a bit in the serve-receive part, but the hole Weatherford was in made getting back into the set tough. The Lady Eagles won the set 25-17 and were up 2-0.
The opening 10 points were competitive in Set 3 as the Lady Eagles led only 6-4. Eaton then went on a run to open up its lead more to 13-7 before Weatherford started to come back.
A Hale kill and a hitting error from the Lady Eagles got the Lady Roos two straight points. Following an Eaton kill, Tomlinson answered with a kill. The Lady Eagles scored next to go up 15-10 before two hitting errors and kills from Mayiah Polk and Broadie cut the lead down to one point at 15-14, and Eaton called a timeout.
The Lady Roos cut the lead to one point at 17-16, but could not get over the hump to tie the set or take the lead. Eaton won the next five points with two kills, two errors from Weatherford and a block to go up 22-16. The Lady Eagles closed out 25-20.
It was a tough match to end on for a young Lady Roo team that did so much growing this season. With few varsity returners to start the year, Hammett knew this season was going to be one of growth. From where the team started on the court to where they ended, the results speak for themselves. Weatherford finished the season 27-15 with an 11-3 record in district that was good for third place.
"Once my young ones started to see what they could do, every game it was a little bit better," Hammett said. "Once tournament season, a little bit better. By the time district came, they were already leaps and bounds better than they were on Aug. 1. I just think it was little by little, chipping away little pieces at a time of things we needed to work on."
It was not just what the team accomplished on the court for Hammett that made this team and season special for her.
"All I can say is I am proud," Hammett said. "This has been one of my favorite seasons and one of my favorite teams to coach. I can't even talk about the struggle in this match because I am proud of them."
With only three players graduating, this season could prove to only be the start of things to come for next year.
"It is the end of the season and we are going to miss our seniors so so much, but it is not the end of this team," Hammett said. "We have 13 of those girls coming back. I can just say for next year everybody look out."