By Tom Waddill
BRYAN — Huntsville’s much-improved volleyball team showed up Thursday for its Class 4A Region III quarterfinal match. And still, Brenham had enough firepower to get past the Lady Hornets and advance to the fourth round of the state playoffs.
The Cubettes, champions of District 18-4A, beat Huntsville 25-23, 15-25, 25-20 and 25-19 at Bryan High School. The win was Brenham’s third this season over the Lady Hornets.
This time, though, Huntsville (24-12) and its boisterous crowd gave the Cubettes all they could handle.
“We gave them a run for their money,” Huntsville junior Sara Vaughn said. “They earned this one. We played a good match; it’s just disappointing that we lost.”
The Cubettes (29-7) and Lady Hornets split the first two games. Huntsville led for much of the opener, but Brenham went on a late 7-3 run to win the first contest.
The Lady Hornets quickly bounced back, jumping out to a 7-3 lead in game two. Senior Scottie Ward followed two kills by Vaughn with a service ace, then senior Kim Black warmed up her powerful right arm. A pair of kills by Black gave Huntsville an early four-point advantage. Black added a solo block and an ace to keep the momentum on the Lady Hornets’ side.
Unlike game one, Huntsville never let the Cubettes get any closer than three points in game two. Sophomore Caitlin Germany contributed a solo stuff, junior Chelsea Baker threw down two kills and Vaughn capped the second game when she banged a free ball to the floor.
Brenham stormed back and seized control of the match in game three. Sophomore Bethany Yeager attacked the Lady Hornets’ defense with piercing hits from both sides of the court. Huntsville also made several critical mistakes midway through the third game. That allowed the Cubettes to take a 17-13 lead.
Despite some good work from Black and Germany, the Lady Hornets could not overtake Brenham in the game that turned the match.
“We had some kinks out there tonight and we got down on ourselves in the third game,” said Black, who led the Lady Hornets with 18 kills, six blocks and six service aces. “We played good, but they are just the better team, I guess. We played our hearts out, though.”
After dropping the third game, Huntsville came out flat in game four, only to make a last-ditch push at the finish line. Trailing 21-10 in the final game, the Lady Hornets got on a roll with Black, then sophomore setter Tayler Gray, serving. Huntsville scored eight of the match’s final 12 points, but it wasn’t enough against a Brenham club that is returning to the Region III semifinals for the third straight year.
“Honestly, we played about as good as we could tonight,” Huntsville coach Debbie Hightower said after a short meeting with her team. “We got out in the first game, but we couldn’t hold the lead. I thought the girls played one of their best matches all season long tonight. We made some errors in that fourth game, but overall we played very well.”
Hightower said the Lady Hornets were in good shape going into the third game. But when Brenham won that one, the match was all but over.
“Really, it’s hard unless you have an experienced team, once you get down two games to one, to win that fourth game,” the coach said.
“You have to give Tayler credit in the end, though. When Brenham called timeout, she told us in the huddle she had confidence in her jump serve. Then she goes out there and gets us close. She had the Brenham players out there arguing among themselves, scrambling around. Tayler showed a lot of guts at the end of the match.”
Huntsville was simply too far behind when it made its last run at the lead. After an ace by Gray, Yeager closed out the match with one of her team-high 18 kills. Freshman Scout Brooks added 10 kills and senior setter Lindsey Lechler passed out 46 assists for the Cubettes, who advance to play either Katy Seven Lakes or Santa Fe in the regional semifinals early next week.
Germany had six kills and five blocks for HHS. Vaughn and Baker added four kills each and Ishara McAdams contributed four blocks and one kill. Gray recorded 27 assist, 12 digs and three aces.
Hightower said the Lady Hornets shouldn’t hang their heads. They made great strides over the last three months, and they lost a hard-fought match to a Brenham team that could be headed back to the state tournament for the first time since 2004.
“It’s just like night and day,” Hightower said of her team’s steady progress in 2007. “This really has been a fun year. It started off a little rough, but everybody found their role on the team and they all worked very hard.”
