Llano volleyball coach impressed with team’s effort so far despite record

LLANO — Despite starting the season with two losses, Llano High School volleyball coach Shawn Sweeten-Meredith remained pumped about the results.

The Lady Jackets (0-2) lost to Kerrville Tivy 25-20, 26-28, 12-25 and 26-28 and to Leander Rouse 14-25, 2-24, 18-25 and 6-25.

“We competed with Rouse like we belonged on the court with them,” she said. “We established ourselves during Game 2 with a victory. And that win carried over during Game 3 with some hard battles.”

But she couldn’t say that about the final set. The Lady Jackets struggled with serve-receive, playing defense and focus. That meant setters were running to the ball, which prevented a smooth-flowing offense, Sweeten-Meredith said.

Senior outside hitter Cierra Jordan led with 27 kills, while senior middle blocker Jessica Wunderlich added 19. Junior setter Cheyenne Swenson had 22 assists.  Wunderlich added 13 digs with Jordan recording 10.

Sweeten-Meredith enjoyed watching her squad against Tivy, she said.

“We dug. We set the ball. We attacked the ball. We served the ball,” she said. “During Game 1, we played as a mature ball club with experience. In Game 2, we came from behind and tied, although we were not able to finish. I would like to forget about Game 3.”

Most of Llano’s points in that set came from Tivy’s mistakes, Sweeten-Meredith said. So a confident Antler team closed out the match in the final set, she said.

Jordan led with 14 kills and 13 digs, while Swenson had 26 assists.