Varsity volleyball falls to a strong Salado team 18-25, 31-33, and 21-25. In the point-for-point battle, a few Broncos stood out with their contributions for the night:
Kaitlyn Hutchins-11 kills
Ava Wood-5 blocks
Madi Bingham-20 assists, 8 digs
Haylee Kasner-7 digs
Read more about last night by Tim Waits at the Temple Daily Telegram - -
In a match between two of Central Texas’ volleyball titans, it was Class 4A third-ranked Salado that flexed its collective muscle in Lake Belton’s raucous gym Tuesday night.
Salado held off a bevy of challenges from the Lady Broncos to complete a 25-18, 33-31, 25-21 victory.
The Lady Eagles improved to 10-1 while Lake Belton dipped to 4-3 after a match in which the exhaustive middle set proved to be the difference.
“We were just hanging in there,” Salado head coach Clint Brown said. “You don’t plan for a 30-29 game, but I’m proud of the girls for battling through so many set points against them.”
Indeed, the Lady Broncos found themselves a point away from evening the match seven times before ultimately relinquishing the set and later the match.
“It was frustrating. That game could have gone either way,” said Lake Belton coach Allison Waits, whose team won a similar set and match three days prior with a 32-30 win over Longview in the Duncanville Tournament. “We would have a few messy errors. We did a good job of getting the lead, but we’ve got to hold that lead.”
Lake Belton trailed 20-17 in the second set but stormed back to overtake the Lady Eagles with five of the next seven points, paced by kills from Northern Colorado commitment Kaitlyn Hutchins, an ace from Ava Wood and a block from Makinzi Johnson to seize a 24-22 advantage.
The slugfest continued well beyond regulation, with Arkansas commitment Elsie Law and teammates Haley Brown and Charli Niu delivering key points for Salado to match those of Lake’s Hutchins, Wood and Thia Allison.
With the set tied at 31, a Lady Broncos net violation and an errant shot provided the final points for Salado to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 match advantage.
“This was a tough environment,” Brown said of the Bronco Gym patrons. “I like coming into a hostile environment. It had the feeling of a playoff match. These are games that make you better.”
Lake Belton took a 14-12 advantage in the final set, but the Lady Eagles went on a nine-point scoring streak with kills from Rice commitment Mazzy Johnson and an ace from Kinsley Kopriva to pull away.
The Lady Broncos saved four match points with kills from Abbi Jones, Allison and Hutchins before Law finally put the evening to rest with the last point.
Both teams will be back at it with weekend tournaments. Lake Belton will play in the Pflugerville tournament, while Salado heads to Glen Rose.
