Sports see more »

By Art Dlugach

It may not be Game 7 of the World Series, but Game 5 in volleyball offers great excitement, especially for those of us who may never play in or see that decider in baseball.

Llano went to five with Killeen Shoemaker, August 17, and captured a thriller to end a long, thrilling night, 16-14.

“I was surprised,” head coach Shawn Sweeten admitted, “surprised we pulled it out after being down two games to one,” on the road and against a Class-5A school.

You just knew the concluding set was going to be tight and back and forth, with neither sixsome able to pull away.

The Jackets’ biggest lead was 6-4, but Shoemaker went up 9-8. A Karina Pieratt kill tied matters at both 9-9 and 10-10. The Grey Wolves—and weren’t we all getting grey or gray as the hands on the clock chased each other for two hours—went back in front by two, until Victoria Calzoncit made a super kill. Soon it was 12-12. Shoe untied it to take command 14-12—double match point.

****

The opening game was practically all Llano. Calzoncit got three of her 11 kills. “I felt good about my hits,” Vic said. Sophomore Cierra Jordan began her superb night with excellent jump-smash serves, and stated: “I think I’ve improved on those big time.” Shoemaker would have liked to have seen the “former” Cierra, but most people don’t remember that being exactly terrible. Her varsity career had climbed all the way to its 11th game.

“I thought we would jump on them after winning the first game 25-16,” Sweeten sighed, “and it was frustrating we didn’t. Hopefully we can prevent a letdown in the future.”

The Jackets rallied from a 19-10 deficit in game two to trail 21-17 but lost 25-17. In the third game, Kelsey Center had a couple of her eight kills, and Kirstie Roark tumbled to the floor and won a point. Roark, the senior libero, is known for her devil-may-care focus, but she touched more hardwood at Shoemaker than the Home Depot manager.

The Wolves claimed that third set 25-19 to take a 2-1 advantage in games.

“We were pretty down at this point,” Jordan acknowledged. “We tried to pick each other up like we always do.”

What they did was pick apart Shoemaker 25-15. Jordan, Calzoncit, Center, Roark-to-the-deck, Sierra Hernandez, Jessica Wunderlich, and Paige Friedrich all had major contributions. Paige authored a sensational 38 assists for the night; Jordan had 14 kills and 18 digs, while Roark had 25 digs.

****

So, where were we? Oh yes, Llano is down 14-12. First one to 15 wins a Game 5, must win by two. The Grey Wolves hit one ball into the net and a second one out. Game tied. Friedrich, relied upon for that robust number of assists, took matters into her own hand with a tap, and the Lady Jackets had their first lead since 8-7. A Jordan smash ended the long struggle.

“Llano is a tough team,” observed Shoe’s coach, Meredith Moore. “The team with the most heart pulls one off like this, and they showed a lot of heart.”

“We dug ourselves a hole to fall behind 2-1 in games,” Calzoncit explained, “but we fought back and dug ourselves out of it.”

“Pride kicked in in games 4 and 5,” Sweeten asserted with pride herself, “and we were battling by playing good defense instead of standing around.

“Each person did his job; there was no selfishness; we showed an enormous amount of character.”

At Granbury, Aug. 20-21

“Bury” might have been the operative word here. Oh, my, success is fleeting. The Jackets were dumped by North Crowley, Burleson, and LD Bell—all 5A schools who registered knockouts. Then the coach got in a few punches—yes, verbal ones.

"There was great frustration," Sweeten said, "due to the lack of effort. We struggled miserably with a lack of desire to keep the ball off our court. Many times throughout the rallies, we quit entirely too early.

"When there’s no effort, we just continue to rally off more mistakes. We must lose the hesitation that has crept into our game."

Two more losses followed on Saturday, but Llano did defeat Fort Worth OD Wyatt two games to one. Friedrich had 28 assists, while Roark collected 22 digs and Jordan, 20.

"I’m pleased to say this was a much better day for the Jackets," Sweeten advised. "There was much more energy and enthusiasm. Perhaps this tournament will benefit us after all."

I don’t know about you, but this sport may be too much for me.