Taking Care of Business!!
LadyCats Protect 2nd Place District Position
October 12, 2009
The Newcastle LadyCats took care of business Saturday morning by defeating the Lady Jackrabbits from Graford in three straight games 25-8; 25-14, and 26-24. The LadyCats are now showing the consistency that has been developing over the current season and are defeating teams that they should and not letting less talented teams slip up on them! Anyone who has watched the LadyCats develop over the past couple of years knows that every once in awhile they seem to lose focus and let inferior teams play them very close and sometimes even beat them!! But, this is a different team from last year and the experience they are gaining is paying big dividends.
We also know that our LadyCats are not usually morning girls! Some of their worst games have been on Saturday mornings. But this one was different. From the very first serve the LadyCats jumped on the Lady Rabbits and never let up! The first game was not even close with the LadyCats playing some great team ball. The serving was good; the passing was really good; the setting was even better and the hits got continuously harder every point played! Whitney Norman's long reach and blocking ability really creates problems for LadyCat opponents and those blocks have such a negative psychological effect on other teams.You can visibly see the enthusiasm leave their body when one of their spikes gets blocked.
Game number two was another good game for the LadyCats with Haily Kramer and Tara Evans making some really hard hits back at the Lady Rabbits. There was one sequence when Haily hit three of the hardest hits of the match back over at this one poor Lady Rabbit and somehow each time she was getting it back up in the air just to have it crammed right back over at her! That was an exciting point! I've also learned that Tara has certain sweet spots on that court and if she gets a good set at certain places on the court that ball is about to receive a spanking! We missed Darcey Lewelling on the trip Friday night to Crowell but was glad to see her feeling better and contributing to the LadyCats 25-14 game two victory!
Game three was vintage LadyCat volleyball with a slim 26-24 victory. With two wins under our belt what is the use of playing any harder than we have to??? Somehow each match the LadyCats want to give their opponents a false sense of hope and give their fans a heart attack!! The LadyCats were behind in game three the entire way until they reached the 25-24 point! I thought - "Oh, my gosh! We are going to have to sit through another one. Just put them away!!". And, they did! Thankfully. Game three was not pretty and the Lady Rabbits grabbed the momentum away for the LadyCats and used it to their benefit. But, the LadyCats pulled it out at the end for a clean sweep of all three games.
The LadyCats will be traveling to Perrin tomorrow evening for a 6:00 PM game against the Lady Pirates. The Lady Pirates are having a tough season and this one should be a win for the LadyCats but you never know for sure until the referee folds his/her arms for the final time! And then Saturday it's a chance to create a little district dissonance with a trip to Bryson to play the undefeated Bryson Cowgirls! That will be a great game and someone is going to have to take notes for me because I have to leave about 4:00 am that morning for a wedding in Orange, Texas. Traveling 7 1/2 hours with a baby is not my idea of a good time!! And then 7 1/2 hours coming back! I will be thinking of the LadyCats Saturday morning as I maneuver Interstate 45!
