August 30 season update
Bryan
The Lions opened with a loss to Lindsey Wilson (24-30, 22-30, 22-30), a match which exposed the youth of the Lions as they could not pass the overpowering serve from the Blue Raiders. The Raiders’ Lucy Ng’ang’a, a returning All-Region MB, helped control the middle, and kept the Lions from establishing their middle game. After falling behind 7-1 in game one, the Lions traded points but were never able to close the gap.
The Blue Raiders led throughout game two, but the Lions appeared to settle down at the beginning of game three, with a short burst giving them a 9-6 lead. The Blue Raiders returned from a time-out and reestablished a lead which they never relinquished.
In commenting on the Lions’ first match, Bryan Coach Leo Sayles said, “We were expecting to see some first-game jitters, but we were also handicapped with the loss of two starters due to injury. We had established a solid rotation when we scrimmaged
The Lions squared off against regional rival
“We switched from a two-setter offense to a one-setter offense after we saw some weaknesses exposed in our first match. The team did well with such a major change in the offense, and we definitely got stronger as the match went along. This match may have post-season NCCAA ramifications for us if we can stay above .500,” commented Coach Sayles.
After the strong victory in their second match of the day, the Lions had to face Indiana University-Southeast, which came into the weekend ranked No. 22 in the NAIA preseason poll. IUSE, the top team in region 12, was beaten earlier by Lindsey Wilson, and the Lions sought to capitalize on the situation.
The two teams battled back and forth in game one, trading points with no separation greater than 2 points throughout, until the Lions were able to pull ahead 29-25 off a kill by Robin Renfroe and an ace by Abby Humphrey. The Grenadiers of IUSE sided out, but the Lions took the first game off an uncontested kill by Claxton to win 30-26.
The Lions looked ready to run away with game two, building a six-point margin at 19-13, but three key missed serves and a reception error by the Lions allowed the Grenadiers to finally draw even at 22 all. The teams continued to battle, going into extra points before IUSE pulled a 3-point run to put the game away 36-34.
The loss in game two seemed to sap the energy from the Lions, while the Grenadiers seemed to gain momentum. The Lions stumbled badly in game three, falling behind by as many as 14 points in the 30-18 loss. Coach Sayles used his entire bench to try and buy time for the Lions to find some energy during the game.
The Lions appeared to come back ready for the challenge in game four, with the two tired teams battling toe to toe through the first 20 points. The Grenadier’s sophomore setter Katie Tinsley displayed her leadership by orchestrating a late run as the
Sayles commented, “This match was hard-fought, and there really were no losers. Both teams ran out of gas midway through the match, but I believe the rich tradition of IUSE displayed itself. They came in with a new coach for the second year in a row and a very young team like ours. However, IUSE has won the regional championship for something like 6 or 7 years, and advanced to the NAIA national tournament every year. Their players come in with a level of confidence that displayed itself during this match.
"Early on, we were a couple inches away from going up 2-0, but I give the Grenadiers a lot of credit for fighting their way back into the match and finding a way to win. I don’t know much about the preseason rankings, but I do believe we learned a lot from this single match, and I believe we will come into conference this year with a different level of confidence and skill than we have displayed in the past few years.”
Humphrey and Claxton both tallied double-doubles in the match. Humphrey finished with 16 kills and 17 digs, and Claxton tallied 11 kills and 13 digs. Overall, Humphrey had one of her best single-day totals in her career at
Sophomore MH Robin Renfroe had a solid day with 22 kills and 15 total blocks to lead the Lions. Smith had a solid first effort as well both offensively and defensively, finishing the day with 25 kills, a .294 hitting percentage, 9 total blocks, and a team-leading 7 service aces. Libero Heather Hacker finished the day with 44 digs, served almost perfect from the line (40 out of 41) and led the Lions with her passing percentage.
Tuesday, the Lady Lions could muster no offense in a lackluster loss to
“We were unable to mount any consistant offense,” Coach Sayles said. “This was not the The Lions travel to
Injury Report; Sophomore MB Rachel Meek is out for the season with a knee injury. She will have surgery in the next week to repair the damage, and hopes to be ready for basketball season. Junior DS Kristin Green is out for a minimum of 6 weeks, and is awaiting word on her wrist injury. Freshman starting OH Brittany Carter, out with a knee injury, is in rehab for the next two weeks. She will be re-evaluated at that time. Junior Captian/Libero Kathryn Rawley, out with a broken finger, is expected to be cleared to play next week.