Lady Dawgs lose first district match
After going 5-0 in district play, the Lady Dawgs finally stumbled, 20-25, 25-13, 25-20 and 24-26, as Liberty Hill ripped out a two-point victory in a tie-breaker, 18-16.
“Any loss is hard for us, but it was a hard one to swallow when the win was so close,” said Burnet head coach Bethany Grissom. “We have to be able to put the game away when we have our opportunities. We made errors at crucial times, when we needed it the most.”
Even with the loss, Burnet (5-1, 22-11) held on to the top spot along with Wimberley (5-1,19-9) followed by Fredericksburg (4-2, 20-12), Liberty Hill (3-3, 23-8) and Llano (3-3, 16-12). Ingram and Canyon Lake have fallen off the board. Only the top three teams will advance to the playoffs with the second round getting underway this week.
“The second round is going to be important to all the teams,” Grissom said. “There are five teams that are right in the hunt for three spots. I told the girls that this is just one match, and we have to move forward from it. We still have a full second round where there will be teams gunning for us. We have to know that the teams we play second round will all have their best matches against us. That’s something we need to take on as a challenge one game at a time.”
On Friday the Lady Dawgs host cross-county rival Llano, which reeled in a major win over Liberty Hill in the first round but were burned by Burnet in four sets. The match will begin at 6 p.m.
Canyon Lake visits Burnet Oct. 14 and then a lineup of blockbusters follow, including a journey to Fredericksburg Oct. 17, a showdown at Wimberley Oct. 21, and the return tussle with Liberty Hill Oct. 28 to wrap up the regular season.
The Texas 29 collision between Burnet and Liberty Hill was swayed by Lady Panther Jackie Wattles, a first team all-district selection who pounded the Lady Dawgs with 19 kills, five aces and five blocks.
“Wattles is one of the best hitters in the district,” Grissom said. “We were unable to stop her. She had a great match and got the job done.”
In a noisy, hostile environment at Panther Gym, Burnet got off to a sluggish start.
“We weren’t ready to play game one,” Grissom said. “They came out on fire, and we couldn’t get anything accomplished. It all started with our serve-receive breaking down.”
The Lady Dawgs, on the power of Laura Servise, who finished with 24 team-leading kills, and the finesse play of Mandi Lindley with 27 assists, commandeered the second and third sets. But despite the tremendous two-set thrust, Burnet let the next one slip away.
“We should have won the fourth game,” Grissom said. “That was one of the games we had in the palm of our hands and gave it away.”
Burnet felt they could still put the Lady Panthers away in the tie-breaker with their defense. The intensity reached a feverish pitch as the two teams tangled in the final stretch. Despite their valiant efforts, the Lady Dawgs couldn’t hold off the Liberty Hill attack.
“The girls played really hard the last set,” Grissom said. “I was proud of the way they fought. We just couldn’t execute when we needed to.”
Junior standout Eden Sultemeir had another exceptional outing that included four aces and some dramatic hits. Defensively, Yudith Ortiz raked in 14 digs, and Emily Vaughan, this year’s team leader, was unfaltering at the net, finishing with three solid blocks and some vital touch hits.