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BY TYLER CLIFTON
KFYN SPORTS DIRECTOR
DENISON - Danna Neasbitt didn’t want her final volleyball match against
rival Sherman to be a loss, and once she set up Brooke Furst
for the deciding kill in a three-game sweep of the visiting Lady Cats, there
was a lot more to celebrate than the win alone.
A team often
finds out more about itself when it isn’t at 100 percent, and the Lady Jackets
were not only without junior starter Emily Thompson and her ankle injury, but
head coach Saundra Hess was notably absent as well with the flu.
None of it
mattered, as the entire team stepped up, and although Sherman put up a fight
late in Game 3, it was too late, as the Lady Jackets walked away with a 25-20,
25-13, 25-19 win at the Denison Gymnasium.
It was a far cry
from the team’s first meeting in Sherman, where the Lady Jackets (16-17, 3-7)
had to scratch and claw on match point in Game 4 for an eventual five-game win.
There were no signs of panic with Hess’ absence, and junior varsity coach Kelly
Carter more than filled the void in taking her place.
“The girls really
picked up their play defensively, and they were able to run their offense,”
Carter said. “They were aggressive, and once they got the lead, they never gave
it up. They played really well.”
Although Hess
probably gets the win under her career victories total if the University
Interscholastic League holds the same rules as others around the country,
Carter won her first career match as a varsity coach.
“If you know her at
all, you realize how sick she actually had to be to miss this match,” said
Carter of Hess. “She prepared the girls well, and I didn’t have to do anything
except turn in the lineup. I had to call only one timeout the entire match, and
the girls performed well and picked up their play and intensity.”
Neasbitt had the
seventh of her eight assists in Game 3, and Erin Ramsey put down two of her
four kills for a 19-11 lead. Casey Hamiter and
Victoria James (three blocks, two kills) combined for a block, and Ashli Wieck (five assists, 11
digs) served an ace to pull Sherman within four.
The deficit was
whittled to three twice late, but the Lady Jackets scored the final three
points for the victory. Rachel Oakley delivered two of her three Game 3 assists
to Imani Finley for two key kills down the stretch.
“We came out
ready to play tonight,” said Denison junior middle blocker Ashton Walters, who
along with Furst finished with three kills in the
deciding game. “We kept our confidence up and believed in ourselves.”
Four assists on
the first five points by Neasbitt helped jumpstart
Denison in Game 3, and the Lady Cats stayed close early after Jessica Wash’s
ace and a kill by Anna Jones (three kills, 11 digs in the match) left Sherman
(11-21, 1-9) down 10-9.
Four Lady Cat
errors along with a kill by Kendra Robbins (who missed the team’s earlier match
with a broken finger) gave Denison a comfortable six-point advantage in the
match.
“I felt we took a
step back when we should’ve taken one forward,” said Sherman coach Malina Aleman, whose team won its first match in two years
one week ago against McKinney but has been unable to build any momentum from
it. “We’re going to have to take a long, hard look at our season and talk about
the things we want to do and what we’re still able to accomplish.”
Shaquoia Mask
finished with five kills for Sherman, who hosts Frisco Wakeland
on Friday. Lindsay Kirkpatrick had nine digs, while Carin
Hepner and Darian Patterson
each added six digs for the Lady Cats.
Denison tries to
keep up its winning ways against Frisco, who has lost five straight and nine of
its last 10, including its last 12 individual games and 15 of its last 16
overall.