Sports see more »

By Art Dlugach

The opposition continues to be tough, and the Llano High volleyball team continues to have a tough time collecting victories, but an easy time collecting post cards. The Fugitive wasn’t on the road this much. The latest journey began August 24 and ended six matches later on August 28.

Vs. Bandera, Aug. 24

This should have been called Homecoming Night. Llano had played 17 consecutive games in their visitors’ uniforms—in 13 days—before finding their way to the Jackets’ gymnasium. They probably thought they needed a room key to get in.

The match did not go well, and the Bulldogs won in three straight. However, "There were some things I was pleased with," said head coach Shawn Sweeten.

Not too many in game one. Bandera, the former district opponent, led early and often, and it was 24-13 before Jessica Wunderlich became a wonder—or wunder? She scored four points in a five-point run, but 25-18 was the final.

"We could have done a better job attacking," Sweeten mentioned. "We were hesitating like we did at Granbury." Oh, let’s not bring up Granbury.

The Jackets took control in game two. Cierra Jordan had a strong serve; Paige Friedrich made a nice tap for a winner with her left hand and set up Kelsey Center for a kill; Victoria Calzoncit added a pair of smashes for a 16-12 advantage.

The ‘Dogs rallied and tied matters at 20-20. Appropriate score, or, uh, not appropriate. Somebody’s vision was skewed on the next exchange, and a Bandy ball Lamar Odom couldn’t have reached sailed out of bounds. Not so fast. The ruling was a Llano player had grazed it. With what? A Big Tex doll?

"That was a momentum breaker," Sweeten said as sweetly as she could. 25-20 flew mercilessly onto the scorecard.

The last game was a thriller. A Wunderlich ace made it 23-22, Bulldogs, and a nice shot by Calzoncit tied the overtime journey at 26-26. Bandera sent everyone home two points later.

"You have to take into account," Sweeten emphasized, "we haven’t played that much together. Our first game was August 9. We need to build trust with each other, and that’ll happen. I’m upset about the loss, but it’s going to be okay."

Hill Country Tournament

Not in Kerrville, August 26. Aledo whipped the Jackets 25-11, 25-11. Assistant coach Daryl Friedrich was given the mike. "There’s got to come a time when we get tired of just competing and win one…win one!"

Sweeten had good things to say about Karina Pieratt: "She’s stepping up and exceeding all expectations I had for her. She’s directing traffic and bringing energy to others. She’s a player.

Vs. Harper

Friedrich had 18 assists in this one, and Kirstie Roark picked up 14 digs, but the Longhorns won two games to one.

"We continued to show signs of improvement," Sweeten praised, "and we managed to compete throughout the entire match. We’re still quitting during the rallies too early, and, in turn, we give our opponents the momentum."

Vs. Blanco & Tivy, Aug. 28

If these had been the only battles of the long day, everyone would have gone home happy. Llano downed the Panthers 25-18 and 25-23. Roark added 15 digs to her book shelf, while Friedrich had 13 assists.

Kerrville Tivy got by LHS 25-17 and 25-19. Center had six kills, and Sweeten commented: "There was excellent play with long, successful rallies."

Vs. Ingram, August 28

This loss, two games to one, hurt and hurt bad. "It’s frustrating to compete against bigger, more experienced schools," said the coach, "and match them dig for dig, and almost point for point, and then not win against teams we clearly can overpower.

"It was clear the Warriors wanted a piece of the Jackets far more than the Jackets wanted a piece of the Warriors.

"We must play with more desire and determination. Again, I’m optimistic that we will be where we need to be when we have to be."