Kirbyville turns back Jasper in volleyball opener in three games
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

JASPER'S JANICE SHELBY dinks a ball over the net as two Kirbyville players defend on the play.The Lady Wildcats defeated Jasper in four games to capture the District 21-3A opener for both squads. Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy

Jasper's varsity volleyball team lost their first district match to Kirbyville in four games Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The Lady Cats took the first two games, 25-17 and 25-13. The Lady Bulldogs rallied in game three to go up 25-22, and took an early lead in game four before losing 20-25.

"Losing the first district game definitely wasn't the way I hoped to start out, but we know now what to expect and what to work on," Coach Casey Murphy said.

Jasper had a hard time getting anything going in the first two games, and allowed Kirbyville to control the floor even though the two teams seemed evenly matched.

"A lot of balls hit the floor because we weren't covering the block or the hitter," Murphy said. "Lack of communication was also a factor."

The Lady 'Dogs came alive in game three and looked like they would take the fourth game; however, near the end communication seemed to fall apart, leading to the loss.

Junior varsity won 25-9 and 25-20 in a two out of three series. Ninth graders lost in two.

"The JV team executed fundamentals and simply played smart," Murphy said. "This group works so well together. It is so exciting to see them begin district with a win."

Varsity's Janice Shelby and Amber Grant tied for top serves with 12 each; Julia Morris had 12 for the JV, and D'Ashleigh Limbrick had four good serves on the freshman team.

Varsity defeated Spurger, a nondistrict game, Friday night. Jasper won the first two games 25-18 and 26- 24 before losing game three 17-25. They took game four 25-22.

"We played extremely well against Spurger," Murphy said. "It was what I've been waiting to see from them. I was very proud."

Amber Grant was top server with 18; Deanna Spikes had 18 digs, and Grant and Shelby tied with nine spikes each.

The Lady Bulldogs also competed in the large 19- team Woodville tournament last week. After pool play ended, they lost to Newton in two games and then faced Spurger again, winning only one of three games.

"Winning this game would have secured a spot for us in the championship game of our division," Murphy said. "We all felt frustrated that we lost to a team that we knew we could beat. That meant playing for third in our division. We only won one game of that series against Evadale."

Murphy said that the team was exhausted Saturday because they played so many games in one week plus practice.

"We were exhausted by the time we played Evadale," she said. "We were not prepared for the number of tips we saw and just weren't at the right place at the right time. This was a very good tournament and we saw some good teams."

Shaniquewa Adams had 15 good serves against Newton while Amber Grant had six hits; Grant was tops in serves against Spurger in tournament play and tied with Janice Shelby with 15 hits each.

The Lady Bulldogs were playing their second district game last night against Orangefield and will be on the road Friday night against West Orange-Stark. They play Bridge City away on Sept. 18 and will be at home Saturday, Sept. 22 against Hardin-Jefferson.