Lady Loboes Make Short Work Of Mojo
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~ ~  The Monahans News, August 19, 2005

The Monahans Lady Loboes made their home debut Tuesday night hosting Class 5A Odessa Permian in a non-district match at the Jerry Larned Sports Complex.

The defending Class 3A state champs were greeted by a packed house as they entered the arena with "Welcome to the Jungle" echoing in the background.

The music seemed to set the tone for the night, as the Panthers (0-6) fell victim to the Lady Loboes heavy hitters.  MHS (5-0) swept the match, defeating Mojo  25-11, 25-11.

In game one MHS ran out to a 3-0 lead on the serve of Dina Ortiz before Permian could break serve and get on the board.  The Ladies dominated Mojo at the net and took a 14-5 lead into a PHS timeout.  Permian was unable to overcome the Monahans pressure and eventually fell victim in game one 25-9.

Mojo scored the first point of game two, but MHS reclaimed the lead for good two points later.  After a relentless barrage of kills from the Lady Loboes, PHS called time out in an attempt to regain their composure, trailing 19-8.

 It proved to be too little too late, as Monahans dissected the Panther defense point after point.

Brittany Hughes and Candace Swarb rejected a Permian kill attempt, stuffing it back into the lady Panther side of the court.  Monahans took a 22-8 lead.

Allison Miller sealed the deal with a big kill to give the Ladies a 25-11 victory in game two.

With nothing to lose in game three, Mojo came out and played its best volleyball of the night, opening with 2-0 run.

Hughes answered the call with a monster kill that would have tied the game at 2-2, but the official ruled  that she had crossed the line. instead, Mojo went up 3-1 and Coach Dominguez to work.

"I challenged her call," Dominquez  said.  "She said Brittany was over the line, I don't think she was." 

Dominguez' intensity seemed to only fuel the Lady Loboes as they fought back hard and fast.

Ortiz dove forward for a huge dig out of the net, and the Ladies were able to pick up a big point on the play to tie the game at 3-3.

The momentum had clearly shifted, and MHS took a 8-4 lead on a kill by Catherine Cutbirth.  Mojo called time out to talk it over, but on the ensuing play Cutbirth hammered it home once again to add to her kill total.

Permian pulled to within three points before Miller and sophomore sensation Bailey Marcum pulled the trigger on consecutive kills. 

Swarb served up an ace to put the Ladies in front 13-6, and the lobo football players in attendance came to their feet with big voices drowning out Mojo fans rally cry.

The Lady Loboes mercifully finished off Permian 25-11 to claim the match and remain unbeaten.

"It was a good night," Coach Patty Dominguez said.  "We got Bethany back in the lineup and did some things well.  Overall I was pleased, and it was good to see the girls have to fight back and work hard before we get into tournament play."

For Monahans, Brittany Hughes had 11 kills, four aces, two assists, seven digs and 6 blocks on the night.  Catherine Cutbirth followed with six kills, two aces, one assist, and six digs.  Candace Swarb had two kills, 20 assists, one block, four digs and two aces, Bethany Marcum recorded four kills, two block and five digs.  Dina Ortiz had one kill and 11 digs, Camilla Cutbirth had one assist, one block and two aces, and Paige Shaw had 5 digs.

Monahans will host the 32nd annual Volleyball Tournament of Champions this weekend,  as they open with Van Horn at 8 am Friday.

Keyed By Jennifer Ray, Senior