Lady Cavaliers clobber Atascocita Eagles in three games

THE WOODLANDS, Texas- The College Park Lady Cavalier volleyball team started the second half of district play in convincing fashion, demolishing the Atascocita Eagles 25-15, 25-17, 25-18. The win moves College Park to 5-2 and drops Atascocita to 1-6 in district 16-6A play.

“Overall we did well,” said College Park Head Coach Candice Collins. “It’s a good district win, there are little things we can work on though to get ready for the upcoming big games.”

The leaders for the Lady Cavaliers were Kennedi Smith with 11 kills and 11 digs, to go along with two aces. Emily Thorson had ten kills and seven digs, while Macey Rabson had eight kills. Hannah Erwin had 26 assists to go along with ten digs, and Savannah Rutledge added 14 digs in the contest.

The first game started with both teams fighting for momentum. With the score 6-5 Lady Cavaliers, Emily Thorson hit a shot to the far side of the court that was too hard to return for Atascocita, and we had our first separation of the game at 7-5. With Thorson serving, and back-to-back kills on overpasses by Macey Rabson, the Lady Eagles were forced to take a timeout trailing 10-5. A smart drop-shot kill by Hannah Erwin got the lead to 12-7 Lady Cavaliers, and the first game was starting to slip away from the Eagles. Atascocita was struggling to stop Erwin’s serve, and after a four point serving run, the lead widened to 16-7. A Thorson kill over a block ballooned the lead to 18-10, and the game was heading for a College Park victory. Back-to-back kills by Kennedi Smith rounded out the first game with the score 25-15 Lady Cavaliers.

The second game continued where we left the first, and an Erwin ace followed by Smith and Rabson combination block had the Lady Cavaliers out to a 3-1 lead. With Smith going on a serving spree, and hitting an ace to make the game 10-5, Atascocita took a timeout to attempt to regroup. After a strong kill to the back row by the Lady Eagles, the game tightened to 11-8 College Park, and it was a fight for traction. Well, the wheels began to turn for College Park, and after a Smith kill to center court, the Lady Cavalier lead grew to 15-11. A combination block by Rabson and Julianna Waller grew the lead to 18-12, and College Park had taken control of the second game. The second game ended after Thorson unleashed a mammoth kill that no one could return, with the scoreboard reading 25-17 Lady Cavaliers.

“We lost a little focus (in the middle of the game),” said Collins. “It’s hard, but we need to stay focused no matter what level we’re playing. As much consistency as we can get is what we’re pushing for right now.”

The third game didn’t see a lot of change, as College Park jumped out to a 4-1 lead with Rabson serving. After a Kayla Black kill on an overpass, the Lady Cavaliers had doubled up the Eagles at 6-3. A Smith kill that was blocked out of bounds kept the lead doubled-up at 10-5 College Park. A Thorson kill to the deep court got the lead to 14-10, and an ace by Smith bumped it to 15-10 College Park. Thorson continued to terrorize the Eagle defense, and a kill that went cross-court opened the lead to 17-12, followed by another Thorson kill that was blocked out of bounds, and the game opened to 18-12 Lady Cavaliers. An Erwin kill got the lead to 21-14, and all that was left to be discovered was the final score of the game and match. Back-to-back Thorson kills made quick work of the finale, finishing the third game and contest 25-18.

College Park faces a tough challenge next Tuesday at home as they take on the top team through the first round of district play, and winners of 21 straight contests, The Woodlands Lady Highlanders.