Lady Loboes win Area Championship, face Canyon Tuesday
    By Randy Hagan- The Monahans News November 8, 2005

The Monahans Lady Loboes hit the road Saturday, Amarillo River Road to be exact, winning the Class 3 A Area Championship game at Lubbock Monterrey High School 25-8, 25-13, 25-8.

The Lady Cats jumped out to an early 0-2 lead in the opening set, before Brittany Hughes ripped Monahans first point through the River Road defense.

Bailey Marcum served four straight points, mixing her serve up and keeping the defense off balance.  She got help from Bethany Willmon and Hughes with a big block for point during her service at the line.

Leading 5-3, Candace Swarb served the ball perfectly to Hughes, and the All-State hitter blasted a killer into the Lady Cat defense to break service.

MHS sent Willmon to the line to serve.  With River Road focusing on Hughes, Swarb passed the ball to Catherine Cutbirth who slammed the ball back to the Lady Cat side for Monahans' seventh point.

Hughes followed with a tomahawk style hit through the defense, and Amarillo River Road called their first time out trailing 8-3.

The Lady Loboes continued to dominate at the net after the time out, as Hughes demonstrated her power and precision.  She overpowered the Lady Cat front line with two kills then avoided the block by dinking the ball to an open spot on the court.

River Road finally broke Willmon's serve to draw the score to 12-4.

After trading points, Swarb went to the line and served the ball extremely well.  Cutbirth continued to find the holes in the Lady Cat defense, and Monahans took a 17-5 lead.

Alison Miller picked up her first kill, hammering the ball past River Road defender.

With Willmon, Marcum and Miller on the front line, Cutbirth put together a string of pints in her rotation at the line to put MHS out front 23-6, before River Road could break serve.

Hughes ended the game with a powering drive to the Lady Cat side of the court, and Monahans took the first set 25-8.

"It takes a couple of balls to get back in sync after having some time off," Coach Patty Dominguez said.  "But we got our rhythm and started playing."

Game two began with Dina Ortiz at the service line, and Hughes picked up the first point of the set on a dink across the net.

Trailing 3-0 to the defending state champions, River Road was able to break the Ortiz serve, but the possession would be short as MHS took it back quickly.

The Lady Loboes raced out to an 8-1 lead on Marcum's rotation at the line.

After a brief rally by Amarillo, Willmon, Miller, and Swarb took control of the front line.  Miller blasted kill after kill into the River Road defense for a commanding 12-6 lead.

Swarb set quick to Hughes, and Brittany sent a rocket roaring past Megan Franks face to move the Lady Loboes to 14-8 lead.  Cutbirth posted a block to give MHS 15 points.

Miller, Cutbirth, and Swarb took their position at the net, and Hughes sky-high jump serve was too much for the defense to handle.  Amarillo called time out trailing 17-9.

Hughes retuned to the line, tossing the ball high and slamming the ball into the River Road defense to pace the Green to a 20-9 lead.

Miller gave Monahans a quick side out, hammering the Lady Cat defense.

Swarb served the set to game pint, but River Road fought back and narrowed the game to 24-13.

Cutbirth put the game on ice with a big shot that the Lady Cat's could not handle, and Monahans took a two game lead on River Road with a 25-13 victory.

Amarillo began game three from the service line.  Cutbirth put the ball in play, Hughes pounded another perfect Swarb set into the river Road side out and early 1-0 lead.

The Lady Lobo rotation sent Marcum to the service line, and Hughes and Willmon took charge at the net giving MHS a 6-0 lead.

River Road (13-16), broke the MHS serve and closed the gap to 7-4 before Monahans could slam the door.

Hughes took her place at the line, serving a missile into the defense, and Miller pounded the ball to the floor for a 10-4 Lady Lobo lead.

Miller picked up another kill to advance the score to 12-4, and Hughes continued to launch bombs at River Road from the service line.

Amarillo closed the gap to 17-6, but Cutbirth jumped high and hit hard, giving the Lady Loboes a 18-6 margin late in game three.

Cutbirth went to the service line and Marcum scored quickly, dinking a floater over the net.

Monahan's moved out to a 21-6 lead on Cutbirth's serve.

Willmon showed her power, pounding another Swarb set through the Lady Cat defense.

Leading 23-8, Willmon and Hughes put up a big block to send the game to match point.  The Ladies finished off Amarillo River Road with a big play at the net to earn the 25-8 set victory, and also claim the match winning all three game.   

"I was really pumped up and excited for this game," MHS senior Brittany Hughes said.  "I think we played really well overall."

Statistics for the game include:  kills- Brittany Hughes 20, Alison Miller 11, Catherine Cutbirth 6.  Blocks- Hughes 4.  Assists- Candace Swarb 34.  Digs:  Swarb 5, Bethany Willmon 9, Dina Ortiz 8.  Hughes 6, Bailey Marcum.  Aces- Swarb 1, Hughes 3, Cutbirth 4, Marcum 2.

The Lady Loboes move into the Regional Semi-Final round to face Canyon in a rematch of the 2004 Regionals.

Canyon (30-6), defeated Presidio in the Area round Friday night.

Monahans defeated the Lady Eagles in five games last season, in route to the Class 3-A state championship.   MHS has been rated number one the entire 2005 season ranked number three.

"Any body can win in the playoffs, so at this level we need to attack the ball and control our own destiny," Dominguez said. 

Monahan's (38-3), will face Canyon Tuesday, 7:30 pm at the Rip Griffin Center, on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.  

Keyed by Jennifer Ray, Senior