Undefeated Lady Yoe sit on top of district standings
The Lady Yoe Volleyball team moved to 4-0 in district play with a big win over the Lorena Lady Leopards on Tuesday night. With the win they move to first place in District 19-3A.
They defeated the Lady Leopards 3-1.
The first three points of the first set went to Cameron. Lorena came back and tied the set at 5, but Cameron retook the lead 6-5 with a kill by Sydni Smith (1). The Lady Yoe continued to add on with an ace by Ainsley Driska (4) for a 12-9 lead. Cameron also showed their defense with a combined block for a 15-11 lead, that was soon followed by a monster kill from Haley Tucker (6) to make the score 17-13.
The Lady Leopards clawed back to make the score 17-16, but the Lady Yoe responded with a tip over kill by Kaly White (3) and an ace by Tucker to give themselves a 19-16 lead. Cameron extended their lead to 22-16 and later got a big kill from Driska for a 24-17 lead. The Lady Yoe would win the first set 25-20 after a failed serve by Lorena.
The first point of the second set went to Lorena. After a couple Lorena errors, Lauren Harris (9) came through with an ace for a 4-1 lead. That was followed with a kill then ace by Tucker for a 6-3 lead. Driska helped extend the lead as well with a massive spike to make it a 9-4 lead.
The lead continued to increase as Cameron came up with a big combined block from Harris and Kasara Brooks (5) for a 14-6 lead. Lorena pounced back and the score became 18-15. Cameron responded with two straight kills from Driska to make it a 20-15 lead. Tucker added on with a big score for 24-20 lead, and the Lady Yoe won the second set 25-20 on an ace by Harris. The big key in Coach Elena Queens eyes was that they made less errors and stuck to their game plan.
The first point of the third set went to Cameron. The set stayed even until Lorena took a 7-3 lead. Lorena began to expand the Lady Yoe deficit 11-4, then to double digits at 15-5. Cameron tried to rally back and got a kill by Tucker to make the score 16-10. However, The Lady Leopards pulled away and the deficit became 21-12; and Cameron would lose the third set 25-17.
“They didn’t give us trouble; it was all on us,” Coach Elena Queen said. “We lost focus on what we just did in two sets and allowed errors, that’s always the result when we fall short. The finger always points our way. The only one to get us out of that is ourselves. That’s real life right there.”
The first point of the fourth set went to Cameron. The Lady Yoe would get a big spike from Driska for a 5-3 lead, followed with an ace from White to make the score 6-3. They extended the lead with their defense on a block by Driska making it an 8-3 lead. Cameron expanded their lead to 12-3, then 14-6. Lorena tried to march back but Cameron halted them with a kill by Tucker for a 16-10 lead. The Lady Leopards tried to claw back again and the score became 16-13. Coach Queen then called a timeout and reminded them that they deserved to be up against this team.
“Simply redirecting the girls, ‘We belong here, we take up space, we get uncomfortable, make them uncomfortable in their own gym.’ Then, they responded and took care of business,” Queen said.
The Lady Yoe responded by increasing their lead which was aided with a kill by Driska to make it a 20-16 lead. That was soon followed with two straight aces by Smith for a 24-16 lead and would win the fourth set 25-16 to win the game to them a confidence boosting 4-0 district record.
“Confidence is built by taking a risk, learning a technique, and doing it over and over, you will have more failures at the start, but once it clicks it clicks,” Queen said. “Each win breeds confidence in these kids. Our girls have never been 4-0 in district in High School! It’s a blessing so see them be present in this moment!”
The Lady Yoe volleyball team went on the road on Friday to face the Rogers Lady Eagles. The Lady Yoe came out victorious, winning 3-1 to improve their district record to 3-0. They won the first set 25-22, won the second set 29-27, lost the third set 25-22, then won the fourth set 25-21.
Up next, the Lady Yoe will head on the road again to take on the Little River Academy Lady Bees. Queens’ game plan for success will be to attack the ball, focus on their serve and receive, defense, and keeping the ball in system and finishing plays. The game will be on Friday and is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.