Lady Bears fend off feisty Central

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Lady Bears fend off feisty Central

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

LITTLE CYPRESS — A lot of folks thought the District 22-4A volleyball race was going to be highly competitive from top to bottom this year.

Well, it was evident Tuesday night at the Bear Cave, that it will be.

The Beaumont Central Lady Jaguars, who usually are in the bottom half of the 22-4A staondings, fought the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears tooth-and-nail for four grueling games.

However, the Lady Bears and their overall team balance came through when it had too as LC-M escaped with a 25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19 victory against the fesity Lady Jags.

“Central put up a great fight,†said Lady Bear head coach Vicki Castino. “There is no such thing as an easy victory in our district. You have to be prepared each time you step out on the court.â€

Sophomore standout Christine Sicktich and senior Morgan Blohm powered the Lady Bear attack but they had plenty of help from their teammates.

Sicktich crushed the Lady Jags (3-1, 0-1) by notching 18 kills and had seven service points. Blohm put together eight kills, 11 points, two aces and two blocks.

The Lady Bears (8-8, 1-0) received nice production from their bench as well as Maci Wilcox posted six kills and Kinsey Staudt had five big blocks.

Kristi Trahan posted six kills, three points and three aces. Carly Gauthier served up seven points. Shayna Sheppard collected six points and four crucial aces while Alexa Humble had 12 points and an ace and Olivia Hinds had six points and two aces.

“The kids gave a great effort across the board except for that little rough patch in Game Three,†Castino said. “Christine (Sicktich) and Morgan (Blohm) both had good nights. I thought Wilcox and Staudt did a great job coming off the bench and we need that from them consistently with district starting, I thought all the kids played pretty well.â€

LC-M had a tough time dealing with the power surge that was presented by Lady Jags Katrina Harris and Clarissa Williams. Harris, an All-District basketball performer as well, notched 16 kills. Williams had 15 of her own and added eight service points.

“Those two are pretty tough,†Castino said. “They have a lot of power behind their shots and they’re hard to block. We got some key plays though when we needed them the most.â€

The Lady Bears scored six of the final eight points in Game One to nab the win with Trahan claiming all three of her aces during a 5-0 Lady Bear run.

Beaumont Central led Game Two 9-4 early. The Lady Bears retaliated with seven straight points with Humble serving up six of them. Central eventually snared a 22-20 cushion but the Lady Bears rallied with the game’s last five points with Blohm serving up the last four and Sicktich collected three kills in the run.

The Lady Bears grabbed a 16-12 edge in Game Three, looking as if they would put the match away in three straight games but the Lady Jags tallied 13 out of the next 14 points. Both Harris and Williams found the hot hand at the net and Ursula Thomas, who finished with 19 service points, served up the game’s last eight points.

LC-M streaked out to a 20-13 advantage in Game Four as Sicktich had six kills and Wilcox had three to spark the spurt. Central came up with five straight points to pull to within two. The Lady Bears closed out the match by tallying five out of the last six points.

Brandi Buckley contributed eight kills and seven points for Central. Thomas added five kills while Nakiesha Washington added six points.

The Lady Bears will play host to Beaumont West Brook in a non-district tilt Friday and will face a stern 22-4A road test next Tuesday when they pay Port Neches-Groves a visit.