by MARK CAUL
While the number of wins the Hays volleyball team captured at the Westwood Warrior Showcase Tournament over the weekend were few, Lady Rebel head coach Erica Walther doesn’t feel her squad is too far away from success.
Hays was competitive in all of its matches, but only came away with one victory in the competitive field.
The Lady Rebs dropped all three of their pool play games Thursday, and went 1-2 on Friday before losing their final match against Caldwell on Saturday.
“We were right in there in every match,” Walther said. “I think a lot of the errors we made that cost us wins were due to the youth we have on the court right now. There were a couple of losses I was really frustrated with, and of course we would have liked to come away with more wins, but for the most part I thought we played good volleyball.”
In their first match on Thursday, Hays rebounded from losing game one to El Paso Franklin 25-15 to send it to a deciding game with a 25-20 game two win. But the Lady Rebs dropped game three by an identical score despite 13 kills from Kaylea Beck and 20 assists and 13 digs from Hannah Ramsey.
Things didn’t get any better for Hays Thursday, as the Lady Rebels were swept by Clear Brook (25-15, 25-23), and Hutto (28-26, 25-22).
Dezaray Garner had seven kills and Beck had three aces to lead Hays against Clear Brook. Against Hutto, Jessica Williams had seven aces and Ramsey added 17 assists for the Lady Rebs.
On Friday, Hays picked up what would be its only win of the tournament with a 20-25, 25-14, 25-22 victory over Sharyland.
Beck (14) and Garner (10) were both in double-figures in the kill column for the Lady Rebels against Sharyland, and Kelsea Sadler added nine digs.
“It was a solid comeback win where we showed a lot of heart after dropping the first game,” Walther said. “The girls showed what they are capable of.”
Losses to Canyon (25-19, 21-25, 25-16) and Leander (25-18, 25-20) on Friday would guarantee the Lady Rebs a losing record for the second straight day.
On Saturday, Hays’ Westwood Tournament experience ended with a (25-19, 26-24) loss to Caldwell. Beck had eight kills and Ramsey totaled 14 assists in the defeat.
Walther said the team came away from the tournament with valuable experience.
“We know we definitely need to work on our blocking,” she said. “We’re struggling against teams with quick offensive sets. Offensively, we have great hitters, but we have to work on seeing the court and hitting the ball to specific spots. We’re just not making the best decisions on where to set and hit the ball right now.”
Despite the fact that about half of the team are newcomers to the varsity level this season, Walther said she expects to see improvement from the Lady Rebels.
“We have all the tools,” Walther said. “We just need a little fine tuning with so many young players on the court.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Lady Rebels in the near future, as Hays plays a regular season game against Lake Travis this week before opening pool play in the Fraulein Volleyfest in New Braunfels against Westlake. Lake Travis is the No. 1 team in Class 4A and Westlake is the No. 2 team in Class 5A.
“I hope our girls don’t lose their confidence, but I hope playing against this type of competition makes them realize the little things they need to do to be successful,” Walther said. “I also hope it leads to wins later in the season.”
Hays will also play against Victoria East and Stephenville in pool play at the Fraulein Volleyfest, which is the second largest tournament in Texas, beginning on Thursday.
