KFDM COOP Posted October 24, 2008 Report Posted October 24, 2008 Lady Bears zap Ozen, win 20-4A volleyball crown Van Wade The Orange Leader BEAUMONT — Bringing out their hard hats and lunch pails Coach Vicki Castino’s Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears dined on the Beaumont Ozen Lady Panthers at Panther Gym Friday. The Lady Bears, who needed a victory to seal the District 20-4A volleyball championship, showed no “nerves†at all as they dismantled the Lady Bears in a three-game sweep, winning the 20-4A crown with a decisive 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 victory in front of a large LC-M road crowd. It was certainly sweet for the Lady Bears (26-8, 13-1), who had fell to Ozen (22-15, 10-3) twice earlier this season. “We were all so awesome tonight,†said senior Maci Wilcox. “This was our dream since the season started and we played tonight like we weren’t going to be denied. Ozen has some crazy-good hitters but our defense shut them down and then everyone got in and did a great job on offense.†Fellow senior Carly Gauthier, an amazing defender and setter, was elated with the win. “To to it the way we did it, that was super,†said Gauthier. “I think we’ve played well all season but in the last couple weeks we’ve been dominant. Ozen has a great team but we played really bad against them in the first part of district. The way we’re playing, we’re going to be tough to beat in the playoffs.†Junior Christine Sicktich, despite being keyed on by the Lady Panthers, still had a match-high 15 kills. The Lady Bears saved one of their most balanced matches of the season for their final district affair. Junior Ashton LaVergne busted loose for 10 kills. Amy Laughlin was big off the bench with eight kills while Wilcox had seven and Caroline Armstrong added five. Just as important was the Lady Bear service game. Junior Shelby Sanchez proved to be “Dr. Doom†for the Lady Panthers. Sanchez served up a whopping 21 points and four aces. Sicktich had seven points while Shayna Sheppard and Alexa Humble had five apiece when they weren’t digging everything up that Ozen threw at them. “I couldn’t be happier to coach a bunch of kids like these,†said Castino. “They were so awesome tonight. They weren’t nervous, they were a team on a mission. I’ve seen that on their faces the last couple weeks. You could just see the focus in their eyes.†It’s LC-M’s first district title since the 2000 campaign and to come back and down Ozen after the earlier losses made it that much more tastier. “When the season started, I had a feeling this group could do something special,†Castino said. “I was a little worried after the hurricane (Ike) came through and made us all play that crazy schedule but the kids got even better after that. Ozen has a good team but the way we’ve been playing lately, I thought the kids would come out and get it done and they did.†Ozen was led by 6-4 senior Jayme Bazile, who will play for Lamar University next season. Bazile finished with 13 kills. Brittany Moore had nine kills for the Lady Panthers while A’Lexus Brannon contributed seven. Somalia Randle led Ozen with five service points. LC-M broke away from a 6-6 tie in Game One. Sanchez came off the bench to serve up seven straight points with LaVerne and Wilcox combining for five kills in the spurt as the Lady Bears went jup 13-6. Ozen got to within 17-14 but the Lady Bears scored eight of the final 10 points with Sicktich getting four kills. Senior rittany Wiegand capped the game with an ace. Game Two was tight for awhile. LC-M led 17-15 but scored four straight points thanks to two Laughlin kills to go up 21-15 and they held on for the win. Game Three was tied at 6-6 before Sanchez got rolling again. Sanchez rang up seven straight servive points again, including two aces and Sicktich found the hot hand with four kills as the Lady Bears built up a 17-7 advantage. Ozen got as close as 18-12 and then the Lady Bears put the match away along with a district title.
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