By Tim Waits via Temple Daily Telegram--

Following the disappointment of falling to Killeen Chaparral for the District 16-5A title, the Lake Belton Lady Broncos made the most of their final regular-season match Tuesday night.

And they had a good time doing so.

Lake Belton swept Waco University 25-11, 25-11, 25-15 to bounce back and gain some momentum before the 5A Division I playoffs begin next week.

“This was the motivation we needed as we move into the playoffs,” said Lady Broncos senior outside hitter Gabby Jones, who churned out six kills. “We need to get losing that match off our shoulders.”

Lake Belton (31-11, 8-2) will face 15-5A champion Midlothian in the bi-district round at 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday at Hewitt Midway. Prior to that, the Lady Broncos have a warm-up match at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Crawford.

After an uneven start to the district finale led to a 7-all deadlock in the opening set, Lake went on a rampage by outscoring the Trojanettes 18-4 the rest of the way, including 12-1 to finish it.

The final run came on the services of Jones and Keileigh Krueger. Jones provided two aces, Kaitlyn Hutchins put away three kills, and the Lady Broncos got points from front-row hitters McKenna Johnston and Morgan Kukulski.

“It was good for us and we had a lot of good energy going for us,” Lake Belton head coach Allison Waits said. “We needed this positivity going into the postseason.

“We had the opportunity to play girls in their secondary positions and get some of our younger ones some time on the court.”

The Lady Broncos didn’t toy with the Trojanettes (8-24, 2-8) in the middle set, jumping out to a 16-4 lead. Ava Wood was a catalyst with a pair of kills during the surge that included three kills from freshman Abbi Jones. Nia Grayson added three kills in the second, and Abbi Jones put away the final point.

The last set went much like the first, with University hanging around at 9-all before Lake pulled away for good. Libero Hanna Ward’s service ace helped put the Lady Broncos on top. Successive kills from Abbi Jones, who finished with six kills, and sister Gabby sandwiched around one from Thia Allison gave Lake needed breathing room.

The Lady Broncos ran off six straight points with kills from Johnston, Gabby Jones and Allison, and a pair of Hutchins aces. A kill and an ace from Gabby Jones set up the final kill by Kukulski.

Hutchins led all hitters with nine kills, and Lake’s Madi Bingham dished out 28 assists.

“It was a fun game and we had a lot of fun in practice to get ready,” Johnston said. “It’s important for us to feel like this and take this with us.”