College Park Lady Cavaliers extinguishes the Friendswood Mustangs

THE WOODLANDS, Texas- The College Park Lady Cavaliers (18-4) volleyball team continues to hold serve and remain unbeaten at home this season, upending the Friendswood Lady Mustangs (11-14) by a score of 25-21, 25-18, 25-18.

Leading the way for College Park was Kennedi Smith with ten kills. Emily Thorson added 15 digs and six kills, and Kilee Burke added 16 assists while Hannah Erwin had 15 assists.

“Overall I can definitely see some improvement from what we've been working on and focusing on,” said College Park Head Coach, Candice Collins. “Offensively we played well, defensively we played well, and we’re covering well. We showed a lot of personality and character tonight.”

The first game started quickly in favor of College Park, as Kennedi Smith had back-to-back kills down the line to make the game 2-0 in favor of the Cavaliers. After a good rally saw senior Emily Thorson strike a kill, the score started to separate at 7-4 Cavaliers. With Kennedi Smith continuing to serve well, Friendswood was forced to take a timeout at 9-4 College Park. Friendswood would respond after the timeout by going on an 8-2 run, and after a College Park overpass that was returned by Friendswood and a few more Cavalier errors, the Mustangs had taken a 13-12 lead in the first game. After a good rally was ended by a Hannah Erwin quick flip to earn the 16-15 Cavalier lead, College Park and Friendswood started a back-and-forth affair, seeing neither team take more than a two point lead until a cross-court kill by Haley Sobosle made the score 22-19 Cavaliers. An excited crowd cheered as an ace that clipped the line by Hannah Erwin, ending the first game in favor of the Cavaliers 25-21

“It was exciting. It was the first time we’ve had a crowd like this,” said Collins. “It was great to see the students out here and into it.”

The second game saw both teams playing good volleyball early. After another Sobosle kill down the middle of the court, the Cavaliers had garnered a 7-5 lead. With Emily Thorson serving well, Friendswood was forced to take a timeout at 9-5 Cavaliers. A Kennedi Smith kill saw College Park on an 8-2 run to make the score 17-7, requiring Friendswood to take another timeout. The timeout didn’t help swing things in favor of Friendswood, and an Emily Thorson kill down the middle of the court made the score 20-12 College Park. However, after the Thorson kill, Friendswood gained some footing. After two blocks culminating in a 5-1 run, College Park was the one needing time, still leading the Mustangs 21-17. The timeout cooled off Friendswood, and after a Macey Rabson kill to the deep court, the game went to College Park 25-18.

The third game got off to the same start as the first two, with both teams having good rallies and the score staying fairly close. After Friendswood returned back-to-back balls long, College Park had taken a 7-6 lead in game three. With junior, Savannah Rutledge on a four-point serving spree and the College Park defense causing issues for Friendswood, the Mustangs took their first timeout of this game trailing 12-8. After an ace by Rabson saw the score balloon to 18-12, the Mustangs needed to call time to talk things over one final time. The timeout didn’t help Friendswood contain Rutledge’s serve, and another ace made the score 22-17 Cavaliers. The game ended when Friendswood sailed an attack long, seeing the third game end 25-18.

College Park will open district play on Friday, September 12, at Atascocita at 5:30 pm.

“I think we are learning how to battle, and that’s really important,” said Collins, “District is going to be tough and they need to know that every time they play, they need to bring it.”