Lady Stangs on a two-match winning streak

All they needed was to be redirected by head coach Mich Robertson for a 3-0 sweep of Lampasas Oct. 7, 25-20, 25-12, 25-11.

After taking a huge lead in the first set, a string of errors gave the Lady Badgers some hope. 

So Robertson called a timeout.

“We got careless,” she said of Lampasas balls landing between defenders. “We were looking at each other. With that said, I kind of lit a fire under them. I kind of woke them up a little bit.”

She tired of seeing the errors on serve-receive, the first step in executing an offense, the coach said.

“Against a team who’s not as strong as us, we came back and walked away with a win,” she said.

The Lady Mustangs responded by attacking the ball and executing a quicker offense against an opponent not used to reacting so rapidly.

“We’re going to have quick passes and run a quicker attack,” Robertson said. “We hit balls with no block.” 

The result was a momentum swing that never allowed the Lady Badgers to recover.

In between sets, Robertson said she told the players to set a goal for the number of points they were going to give up.

“What’s the most they should score on you?” she said. “One player said 15. I said no. Another said 10. Even though we didn’t meet our goal, we came close.”

The players also believed they were a stronger team, the coach said.

“They came back in games two and three and did a great job,” she said.

Lauren Persyn recorded 15 kills, which set another career high for the second time in a row. 

“She hit a .560,” Robertson said. “She had 25 attempts and one error. It’s the best percentage we’ve had all season.”

Kimberlin Ackerman had a kill percentage of .417 on six kills, while setter Kelly Hacker recorded .444 in her kill percentage.

“As a team, we hit .264,” the coach said. “That’s a record for us.”

Hacker recorded 28 assists in three games, which was better than the 28 assists she had in the five-set victory against Killeen.

“Had we gone five, she maybe would have been in the 40s,” Robertson said.

Chelby Lusinger has six of the team’s 13 aces.

Lusinger also had 18 digs, while Taylor Yates added 14. 

“We blocked the ball several times, but their cover was pretty good,” the coach said. 

Thanks to the win against Lampasas and the five-set thriller against Killeen, Marble Falls is tied with Pflugerville Hendrickson for third in district play. 

The two squads will meet Friday in Hendrickson to end the first round.

“Friday is their parent night,” Robertson said. “I’m hoping that works to our advantage.”

The Lady Mustangs will continue to work on serve-receive.

Covering hitters and redirecting them will be a key in the match, she said. 

Coaches will emphasize ball placement for Marble Falls. 

“We have to mix up our attack,” the coach said.  “I think they’re really excited about going over there and playing Hendrickson.”