The Lingleville Lady Cardinals claimed the Area Championship in a lively battle against Zephyr in the Stephenville High School Gym Saturday, Nov. 9.
This victory marks the 15th straight win for the Lady Cards and revenge against the team that knocked them out in the Area round last year and beat them in a 3-set win earlier this season.
“Zephyr proved to be a really tough test for us, but also allowed our season to come full circle,” said head volleyball coach Brandon Haught. “We lost to them pretty badly in August this year, 3-0 and the set scores were not close. To have this redemption opportunity, and be able to take home the win just shows how much our team has improved.”
Both teams sprang into action Saturday in a game of give and take where Zephyr gained the early edge, claiming the first set 25-22.
Lingleville kept up their resolve though and took the lead in the second, resulting in the teams and fans getting more animated as set 2 came to a close and the Lady Cards claimed it.
“We started the game off slow, and limped our way out of the 1st set losing by 3,” said Haught. “Even though the score of that set was close, it didn’t quite feel like it was. We needed to play more aggressively. We started to turn the corner late in the 2nd set, and it was great tying because we were trailing 19-21 before we took off and won 25-21.”
The transition between set 2 and 3 seemed to mark a shift as Zephyr took the first point and Lingleville fired back with its biggest lead to that point in the game.
“Winning that 2nd set, seemed to get us all the momentum, and our younger players really started to shine,” said Haught. “Denise [Toledo] and Dylan [Gibson] were truthfully solid for the majority of the game, and that is really refreshing considering they are freshmen playing in their first playoffs. Sophie [Hudson] really started swinging hard in the 3rd set and to me, that’s when we took off.”
Lingleville claimed set 3 25-15 and set 4 25-18 as the Lady Cardinal fans got more and more lively, spurred in part by a group of young fans leading cheers from the far end of the court.
“We’re so thankful for the large crowd we got to play for on Saturday, and to see so many future Lady Cardinals in the stands, proves to these kids that they have made an impact on the community,” said Haught.
The Lady Cards were heading to Comanche Tuesday, Nov. 12 for the next round as they took on Evant in the Regional Quarterfinals. The results of that game will be provided online and in next week’s edition. (If they win, they will play in the Regional Tournament Friday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. at Midlothian.)
“Every game from here is going to be tough,” said Haught. “There are no blowouts. Region 2 is probably the toughest in the state, but your Lady Cardinals are up for the challenge.”