Temple Daily Telegram// by Tim Waits


While there was plenty to be encouraged about on both benches, it was Harker Heights that had the most to cheer about Tuesday night at Lake Belton.

The Lady Knights provided enough firepower to come away with a 25-12, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23 victory to open District 12-6A play.

“One thing I can say is our girls will stick around,” said Heights head coach Crystal Bennett, whose team moved to 24-7 on the season. “We don’t roll over. We have 10 seniors that have been with me all four years and all they want to do is win.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Broncos continued their recent struggles, though there was much more about which to be optimistic than in recent matches.

“We just have to flip our switch if we want to win,” said Lake head coach Allison Garner, whose team dipped to 10-17 overall with its sixth straight loss. “That’s the best we’ve played in a minute.”

Heights had little issue dispatching the Lady Broncos in the opening set with 11 straight points at one juncture, but Lake Belton bounced back and hung on to tie the match in the second.

The Lady Broncos opened a 16-11 lead following a Kenna Morrison ace and Kalei Cress kill, but the Lady Knights rushed back to close the gap with four straight that included an ace by Tatianna Graves and a kill by Lillian Shrepee off an overpass.

Lake Belton answered with a run that featured two kills from Ava Wood and another by Cress for a 21-15 margin.

The jockeying continued as the Lady Knights came back to tie the set at 23-all. A Heights net violation gave the Lady Broncos a set point, but the Lady Knights fended that off before Gracie Lott put down a Kamryn Daniels assist to give Lake a leg up, and a Heights error ended the set.

Lake Belton battled back from a 17-10 deficit in the third by running off six straight propelled by two kills and a block from Audrey Mughelli and a Kruz Smith ace. The Lady Broncos never knotted the score, but got within 23-22 on a trio of points from Daniels, Haylee Kasner and Cress only to see the Lady Knights finish it off.

The fourth set went much the same, with Heights building a 21-15 advantage only to see Lake Belton creep back within one during a stretch highlighted by three straight Mughelli kills.

Heights ended the match on a Mileyana Hopkins kill.

Daniels had 46 assists and 20 digs for the Lady Broncos. Kasner added 18 digs, Lott paced Lake with 15 kills, and Mughelli finished with 10.

Lake Belton will travel to Killeen Chaparral to continue district play Friday while Heights returns home to host Copperas Cove.