Schulenburg Outlasts La Grange in Five-Set Thriller
The tough pre-district schedule for the La Grange volleyball team continued Friday as stateranked 2A power Schulenburg came to town and beat the Lady Leps in five sets 18-25, 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 7-15.
The loss drops the Lady Leps’ overall record to 7-22, while Schulenburg improved to 19-8.
“We do load our schedule for a reason. It’s hard to see a lot of wins when we are less experienced than we have been in a while. That doesn’t diminish their fight and their heart,” said La Grange head coach Leslie Coltrain. “They are growing and they are learning, We looked as good as we’ve looked all season in three of those five sets tonight. The energy level was where we needed it to be, but at the end we made too many mistakes.”
After winning the third set, La Grange was one set away from victory but Schulenburg rallied for wins in the final two sets.
“We started taking care of what we do on our side of the net,” said Schulenburg head coach Donald Zapalac of the comeback. “La Grange had a little trouble with our serve. It was a battle of errors for both teams tonight.”
Schulenburg was led in kills with 10 from Claire Antosh. Kloe Kutac added nine, Jordan Sommer had eight, and Jessalyn Gipson seven.
Maddi Fritz led the La Grange attack with 13 kills and Maddi Mach added seven.
Hailey Hill led La Grange in digs with 18 and Emma Coltrain had 15. Hill had three aces and Fritz had two. Hill also led in assists with 15 and Fritz had 14. Camille Gonzalez had four blocks and Tori Harold had three.
For Schulenburg, Antosh had 23 digs and Kieryn Adams added 18. Tamara Otto had 27 assists.
Last year the Lady Horns were one win away from going to the state tournament. This year’s lineup, though very different from last season, should have the Lady Horns in the state tournament conversation again this season.
“We’ve had some really good wins,” Zapalac said. “Coming into this season we really weren’t sure where we’d be with this team, there’s a lot of new faces in some new places.”
Schulenburg opens district play Tuesday at home against Louise.
The Lady Leps return to action Tuesday when they host Sealy at 6 p.m. and then begin district play Friday at home against Austin Eastside at 6 p.m.
Subvarsity:
The La Grange JV defeated Schulenburg 25-10, 27-25 to improve to 5-4 overall.
The La Grange freshman defeated Schulenburg 25-22, 19-25, 15-8 to improve to 6-3 overall.