Take away the opening game and the Alpha Omega Academy volleyball team gave first-place Bellville Faith all the Lady Knights could handle in a TAPPS Class A District 6 match Thursday afternoon in Huntsville.
But the Lady Lions couldn’t string together a run in the final two sets and suffered a 25-10, 25-23 and 27-25 home loss. Bellville Faith improved to 7-0 in district, while Alpha Omega dropped to 5-2.
Suzy Partida led the Lady Lions with six kills and four aces. Jessica Stem chipped in four spikes and Abby Altom posted a game-high seven aces in the match.
“The first game we struggled and I think a lot of that had to do with how much we wanted to beat Bellville because they are our friendly rival,” AOA head coach Talara Cox said. “I think we worked too hard and overplayed stuff. When we settled down, we started to play ball.
“This was a great match. There were multiple rallies and multiple hits. Everybody had to work for what they got.”
The Lady Lions finally started to get rolling after falling behind 20-5 in the opening game. Stem knocked down a kill and Altom had back-to-back aces to cut the lead to 12. Partida kept a point alive with a great defensive play, but the deficit was too big to overcome.
Alpha Omega fell behind 5-1 to begin the second set. An ace by Altom and a pair of kills by Stem and Partida and an attack error pulled the Lady Lions to within one at 8-7.
Stem helped AOA take the lead at 22-20 with another spike. But Bellville Faith got a block by Chelsea Binford and benefited from an error to rally for the win.
“I thought we had a really good night serving. It’s nice to get easy points every once in a while,” Cox added. “Abby and Suzy served very well. I even brought in Taylor Garrison, who I brought up from junior varsity, when I was running low on subs and she did a great job serving.
“Jessica Stem also played great tonight. I thought she really helped us out.”
The third game showed why Alpha Omega and Bellville Faith are the top teams in District 6. The set was tied nine times and there were six lead changes.
Sarah Heath gave the Lady Lions a 16-15 lead with a kill. The Lady Knights eventually came back to go up 20-18 on an ace by Cara Toon.
Alpha Omega had a chance to win the game, up 24-23, but a service error and a shot out of bounds gave Bellville Faith a 25-24 advantage.
Partida tied the set with a kill, then Lynette Byler knocked down a spike and snuck an ace barely over the net to seal the victory for the Lady Knights.
“I told the girls that they have nothing to hang their heads about,” Cox said. “This is volleyball and there is always going to be a winner and a loser. That’s OK, but you can’t be upset. I think when they go home tonight and think about how well they played that they won’t be disappointed.
“We will probably round out the season in second place, but that is fine. That puts us in a great spot for the playoffs. We haven’t had any trouble with the other teams.”
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Bellville Faith drops AOA in three games
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