Lady Loboes Take Silver At State, Conclude Outstanding Performance
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, November 22, 2005

The Monahans Lady Loboes quest to retain their Class 3A State Championship ended Saturday, as Bellville upset the defending champions in an epic five game match.

Monahans rallied from a game on 23-25 loss, to win game two 25-19 and game three 25-22.  MHS had a chance to close the door on the Brahmanettes in game four, leading 22-21.  Tournament MVP Kaitlin Inglish nailed a kill attempt to tie the game, and Bellville capitalized on MHS miscues to win the set 23-25.

Lacie Hugo gave the Brahmanettes an early 0-2 lead in game five, before Brittany Hughes added consecutive kills to even the game.

"Brittany is a dynamic and tremendous athlete," Bellville Coach Susan Brewer said.  "We had to counter her by, putting Kaitlin opposite at the net to have a chance late in the match."

Hughes finished the match with 25 kills, 2 aces, 13 digs, and 2 blocks.

Christina Nevins served two key aces and propelled Bellville to 3-7 lead, forcing Monahans into a timeout.

"Cristina's serve was huge for us," Brewer said.  "She gave as an early lead, and that was big for us to get the game going our way."

Coach Dominguez' attempt to regroup her troops was successful, as the Ladies roared back closing the gap to 8-9.

Bellville picked up a key ace from Kristin Chancellor to move BHS out front 9-13, but Gene Traylor posted a block to move the set to game point.

Monahans (42-4), fought back facing elimination to score two more points, but Bellville found a hole in the Lady Lobo defense to score the final point of the match.

The Brahmanettes won game five 11-15, and with the victory, dethroned the 2004 state champion Lady Loboes.

"We just didn't execute," Coach Patty Dominguez said.  "I don't think we utilized out hitters well and didn't pass the ball like we needed to do to take advantage of out style offense.  If we could have done a better job with that, we would have been able to control the match a little better."

The Brahmanettes stormed the court with excitement, and the Monahans players could only watch in disbelief as Bellville took possession of the Lady Loboes crown.

"We wanted to go out at the top of out game," Brittany Hughes said.  "Everything can't go perfect and things happen.  You have to accept that."

Monahans fans did get a glimpse of what the future holds for Lady Lobo volleyball, as Catherine Cutbirth and Bailey Marcum turned in outstanding performances in the state tournament.

Cutbirth joined Hughes and Swarb on the Class 3A All-Tournament Team, released by the UIL.  Bellville rounded out the team as Kaitlin Inglish was named MVP, and Precious Sanders and Kayla Scmidt were also included on the 3A squad.

Statistics include:

 Kills- Brittany Hughes 25, Alison Miller 11, Catherine Cutbirth 6, Bailey Marcum 3, Bethany Willmon 1.

Assists- Candace Swarb 41.

Blocks- Marcum 3, Swarb 2, Miller 2, Hughes 2, Cutbirth 1.

Digs- Cutbirth 14, Hughes 13, Willmon 13, Ortiz 9, Marcum 8, Swarb 6, Miller 2.

Aces- Hughes 2, Swarb 2, Willmon 2, Cutbirth 2, Ortiz 2, Marcum 2.

On Friday the Lady Loboes waited through a 30-minute delay before taking the court, but powered their way into the Class 3A a crushing three game sweep of Luling 25-18, 25-17, 25-15.

The large crowds watched in awe as the state's premier hitting teams blasted the Lady Eagles.

2004 tournament MVP Brittany Hughes led MHS with 28 kills and four blocks to advance the Lady Loboes to the title game for the third consecutive year.

"Our block is a big part of our game," Luling's Edie Weiss said.  "I just felt like we could not track her (Hughes)."

The Lady Eagles could not find an answer for the Monahans power game, as the Lady Loboes hit .333 on the afternoon recording 52 kills and 5 aces.

"They get off the court quickly," said Adrienne Taylor.  "That really affected our timing."

"This was a tough match Luling coach said.  "We did everything we could to prepare.  I love the girls.  We had a great season.

Keyed by Melissa Ramirez, Senior