Lady Dawgs get warm-up match before the playoffs
“Playoffs are special,” said Burnet head coach Bethany Grissom. “I am so glad that these girls get to experience what it’s all about. It’s fun and exciting for the school and for the community.”
First, the Lady Dawgs must settle a score with Fredericksburg at Canyon Lake today in a 6:30 p.m. match. The two teams ended the season in a tie for second place with identical 9-3 district records.
Burnet staged a dramatic comeback against Liberty Hill Oct. 28 while Fredericksburg downed Llano in four sets to finish even with the Lady Dawgs. During the season, Fredericksburg and Burnet split their matches.
The two District 8-3A teams will advance to play either the second- or third-place squads from District 7-3A in the first round of the playoffs. The bi-district playoff games are slated for Tuesday with sites and times still to be determined.
“I am still looking for that fire that I saw in the first round from the team,” Grissom said. “We are lacking that right now. With the excitement of the playoffs, I hope to see it return.”
Against Liberty Hill, Burnet had to furiously dig itself out of an 0-2 deficit to capture the match, 3-2, in their season finale at home.
“It was a big relief to get the win,” Grissom said. “We really struggled at times, but getting to the fifth game was a big momentum boost for us. Once we got there, the girls got pumped and were ready to play. As a coach, it was exciting to see the girls pull it out in the end.”
The Lady Dawgs were edged out in the first two sets, 23-25, 21-25, but then clubbed Liberty Hill in the next three sets, 25-15, 25-18 and 15-7 to avenge an earlier loss.
“We made a lot of errors during the entire match,” Grissom said. “It just didn’t seem like we could get in our zone early in the match. We made a couple of errors, and we let it bother us when we really should have moved on. I think the girls’ pride kicked in. The seniors didn’t want their last home game to end like it was going.”
Eden Sultemeir led Burnet with 12 kills. Grissom said the junior has developed into one of the smartest and most consistent hitters. Mandi Lindley dished out 26 assists and Manda Martin had six aces. Defensively, Yudith Ortiz had 12 blocks while Emily Vaughan recorded 1.5 blocks.
In the first set, Martin kept the Lady Dawgs humming with her smart play, but Burnet’s interior defense couldn’t slow the Liberty Hill attack. Laura Servise and Vandi Vann struck from outside to keep the score close. Sultemeir fired some clutch hits and teamed with Emily Vaughan for a strong net presence to stay within striking distance at 16-20. A wild volley exchange ended in a kill by Vann and sparked a 4-1 rally to narrow the deficit to 23-24, but Jackie Wattles released a strike to get the win for Liberty Hill.
Kills from Sultemeir and Vaughan and much better defense enabled the Lady Dawgs to stay close in the second set. Tied at 16-16, Burnet inched ahead 21-18 with a bullet by Vaughan, an ace by Servise and a laser by Martin to the back corner. Hitting errors derailed the rally and the win.
Feeling a sense of urgency in the third set, Vaughan took over the game for Burnet by doing everything possible on the court. Her energy spurred the rest of her teammates. Martin served up a pair of aces and was followed by a rainbow from Ortiz and Servise. Laila El-Far entered the game to add her crushing serves to the arsenal. Sultemeir finished off the rally with a soft touch hit for the triumph.
In the fourth set, Burnet ripped off five straight points on Lindley’s serves and never looked back. Liberty Hill struggled with hitting errors and couldn’t catch the Lady Dawgs. Vann, Vaughan and Sultemeir and a dash of Servise peppered the Panther defense. Servise, overpowering many of her earlier hits, finally got her strikes.
In the fifth set, Burnet unloaded all its weapons in a furious assault for a 5-1 early lead and a dominating victory.