By Tim Waits// Temple Daily Telegram

It wasn’t just about winning Tuesday night for the Lake Belton Lady Broncos.

It was also about looking good doing so.

Lake Belton didn’t stumble much in a 25-10, 25-12, 25-15 sweep of Waco University at Bronco Gym as the Lady Broncos celebrated their seniors and in the process completed an undefeated run through the first half of the District 16-5A schedule.

Kaitlyn Hutchins paced Lake (23-12, 5-0) with 10 kills, Madi Bingham and Natalia Partida combined for 27 assists, and libero Keileigh Krueger picked up 18 digs.

“I think our senior maturity showed in this game and showed greater purpose,” Lake Belton coach Allison Waits said. “They were focused from the first point. They were locked in tonight.”
The Lady Broncos used long streaks to break open each set and not allow the Lady Trojans (10-21, 2-3) to challenge deep into any frame.

University stayed within striking distance for a while in the opener, trailing 13-9 before Lake reeled off 12 of the last 13 points following an Ava Wood spike.

Bingham was at the service line for the next eight points that included two aces, and kills from Abbi Jones, Thia Allison and Wood. Allison and Hutchins closed out the set with kills.

“We had a game plan and we were determined not to play down to our opponent,” Bingham said. “I was proud of the way we played.”

Lake Belton broke it open even earlier in the middle set by going on a 13-2 run on the services of Hutchins, Krueger and Bingham. Makinzi Johnson, Hutchins, Bingham and Wood provided scoring attacks during that stretch, and Johnson closed out the set with back-to-back kills.

University kept it tight for a while in the third, getting within 11-10 before the Lady Broncos took off for seven straight points that included a kill and block from Bingham, a pair of kills from Jones and points from Hutchins and Wood.

Lake, which hosts Belton on Friday, put together another run of five consecutive points, led by an ace from Bingham and a Wood kill. Hutchins eventually closed out the match with an attack.

“It’s always good to win, and to be 5-0 is really great,” said Hutchins, a Northern Colorado commitment. “We played very cohesively.”