HS Volleyball: Conroe Lady Tigers Notch Second District Win with Victory Over the Willis Ladykats

WILLIS, TX -- The Willis Ladykats Volleyball team (14-13) fell to the Conroe Lady Tigers (16-12) in straight sets to signal the beginning of week two of district play on Tuesday.

A packed Willis High School gym served as a chaotic venue as students, cheerleaders, and families made their presence known from the opening set through the finish.

The first set would be closely fought through the first points. Before either team hit 10 points scored, there were a total of four ties and no team was able to pull ahead by more than two. Following this tough opening, the Lady Tigers would rattle off multiple scoring runs to claim a lead that they never gave back. Any attempts to establish a run for Willis were put down by the blockers of Conroe.

Conroe Head Coach Keandra McCardell spoke on the importance of blocking to her team’s success.

“They were hungry,” said Coach McCardell. “They wanted those blocks, they were ready to block anything that came our way.”

This effort up front allowed the Tigers to claim the first set 25-17.

Conroe opened the second with a five-point scoring run that pushed them ahead early. Willis would fight tooth and nail to keep the set close and came within one point of tying on four separate occasions. The continued blocking along with unlucky breaks on Willis’ end gave the Tigers a lead of two sets to none.

“It was staying disciplined,” said Coach McCardell. “It makes the game so much easier and kind of slows it down for us when we stay disciplined.”

It would be all Conroe to begin the third set. A massive seven-point scoring run to open things up pushed them ahead. The Ladykats would continue to fight with a scoring run of their own which came to within two points of tying the set. A timeout from Conroe reignited a short offensive spurt for the Lady Tigers that kept the team ahead of their lingering opponents.

“We just had to make sure that we did not allow them to get any momentum shifters,” said Coach McCardell on the timeout. “It was making sure that we go out there, we were fighting for every point, and not giving them any easy points.”

Some more back-and-forth scoring paired with errors from Willis kept the Lady Tigers in front. They would win in straight sets with the final ending 25-21.

And just like that Conroe takes the win in a clean sweep on the road.

Final
Wilis - 0
Conroe - 3 pic.twitter.com/JyUw7VxqaG

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“I am very proud,” said Coach McCardell. “I am glad that we got serious and we were ready to take care of business.”

The Conroe Lady Tigers get a chance to keep the momentum rolling against The Woodlands on Friday while the Ladykats must face the daunting Grand Oaks Grizzlies.