Bellville Ends Monahans' Repeat Bid                   
    By Chris Gove, Staff Writer ~Odessa American ~ November 20, 2006

SAN MARCUS  A second consecutive state title was well within reach Saturday for Monahans High School’s volleyball team.

Monahans, in fact, stood just three points from beating Bellville in the championship of the UIL Class 3A State Volley-ball Championships.

But a match of firing at less than full speed eventually proved too much to overcome for Monahans in a 25-23, 19-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11 loss to Bellville be-fore a crowd of 1,947 in Texas State University’s Strahan Coliseum.

“It’s definitely tough,” Monahans head coach Patty Dominguez said.  “What I feel for the senior class I can’t put into words, but seeing them hurt and seeing us have that lead, I think is there maybe something I could’ve done to change the tempo or change what was happening.

“It’s something I’m going to relive for a while.  I take it personally — I feel like I let them down and that I didn’t go ahead and prepare them to get them to that point.” 
Ahead 2-1 in games, Monahans (42-4) rallied from an 11-5 deficit in Game 4 for a 22-21 lead and needed just three more points to close the deal on its second straight crown.

Playing in its third consecutive final, Monahans was trying to repeat as state champions for the first time since winning the 1974, spring 1975 and fall 1975 crowns.

Bellville (35-6) prevented the repeat, though, and won its ninth title in 13 all-time appearances — equaling Monahans and Plains for third on the all-time list.

Bellville got kills from Kaitlin Inglish, Precious Sanders and Kristin Chancellor to rebound for the Game 4 victory.  Then, after Monahans led 3-2 in Game 5, the Brahmanettes took control with a five-point run behind two Christina Nevins aces for a 7-3 lead.

That stretch highlighted problems Monahans had most of the match on serve receive and passing in general, which in turn kept its offense in check.

Senior middle blocker Brittany Hughes finished with 25 kills, which were just two less than Inglish’s match-high 27 but also three less than she had in Friday’s three-game semifinal victory against Luling.

“Even though we were up 2-1, I never really felt like we were in our rhythm and playing how we were used to play,” said Hughes, who also had 13 digs and two aces.  “I never felt that.  At times I thought we could do it, but we just weren’t playing like we were supposed to.”

It was a tough ending for the careers of Monahans seniors Hughes, Candace Swarb, Ali Miller, Camilla Cutbirth and Kalie Harris, with the finish line so close.

Even after falling behind by the 7-3 deficit in Game 5, Monahans battled within 9-8 on a kill by Miller — one of her 11 for the match — and seemed on the verge of one last comeback.

Perhaps Monahans had used all its rallies, though, after digging holes in virtually every game, including a 7-4 deficit before winning Game 2.

Sanders had two kills to push Bellville out to a 12-9 lead and then an ace by Chancellor made it 13-9 before a block by Sanders and Gene’ Traylor gave Bellville five match points and a 14-9 lead.

Monahans got two points back on errors, but Traylor closed out the match with a kill off an overpass, leaving the defending state champions in a moment of silence amid the pandemonium of Bellville’s celebration.

“We won it last year and of course we’re going to want two in a row,” said Swarb, who had 41 assists.  “We talked about it before the game.  We don’t want to leave any regrets out on the court.  And we did.  We left regrets, and I think that’s what hurts the most.

“It’s not that we lost.  It’s we left regrets that we didn’t play our best game.”

Monahans still almost pulled it out, but Bellville had a little too much of everything and preyed on the Lady Loboes’ shortcomings.

Inglish’s 27 kills were complemented by 15 from Sanders, who also had 14 hitting errors.  Kristin and Casey Chancellor had nine and six kills, respectively.

Monahans could have survived that attacking had it responded with more of its own, but Bellville’s Adrienne Meier had 18 digs and Inglish had 15 digs.  Inglish also had four service aces.

“Especially (this match) being the one that counts, we just wanted to go out at the top of our game,” Hughes said.  “Everything can’t go perfect and things happen, so you have to accept that.”

Bellville def. Monahans
25-23   19-25   22-25   25-23   15-11

UIL Class 3A State Championship -- At Strahan Coliseum, San Marcos