Giddings Beats Lady Leps to Break First Place Tie

The La Grange and Giddings athletic rivalry is always

great. That rivalry has grown even more intense on the volleyball court the last few seasons with both teams tying for district titles the last two years.

With both squads coming in tied for first place, Tuesday was another epic chapter in that rivalry – though not one La Grange fans liked. In front of one of the largest and loudest crowds in recent years, Giddings defeated the Lady Leps in four sets. La Grange won the first set 25-22, but lost the final three 23-25, 2325, 21-25. “I felt like we wanted it more, but we let our mistakes get to us too much,” said La Grange senior Hailey Hill, who had 12 kills and 16 assists. “We still have another game with them (on Oct. 21) to bounce back from, so we don’t want to dwell on this one for too long, but we still need to remember this.” La Grange’s Maddi Fritz had a triple-double, with a team-high 18 kills, 20 digs and 26 assists. Camille Gonzalez had 12 kills for the Lady Leps, Jena Jobb had 15 digs and Kylie Trlicek had 13 digs.

The Lady Leps fell to 18-18 overall and dropped to second place in District 22 play with a 4-1 record.

Giddings improved to 5-0 in district and is now all alone in first place.

“You can never point to one particular thing. It was a series of errors we need to clean up,” said La Grange head coach Leslie Coltrain. “Giddings caught us on our heels a little bit, not moving into position quick enough on defense. Hand it to Giddings, they came in here and wanted it. We knew this was going to be a great game, it’s always going to be a battle. I liked where we were coming through the first four games of district. We played some really good ball.”

But Giddings was just a little better Tuesday.

Now La Grange must take care of business over the next few weeks to make sure they stay on the heels of the Lady See Buffs going into the Oct. 21 rematch in Giddings.

“Next time we play them we need to communicate better,” Hill said. “Start strong, but finish stronger.”

District 22-4A Volleyball

Giddings 5-0 La Grange 4-1 Caldwell 4-1 Taylor 2-3 Smithville 2-3 Manor New Tech 0-4 Austin Achieve 0-5 The La Grange JV defeated Giddings 18-25, 25-18, 15-10 District record 5-0 Overall record 13-9 La Grange Freshmen lost to Giddings 21-25, 20-25 District record 3-1 Overall record 12-10