Just Enough
    Monahans Overcomes Sluggish Start to Sweep Aside Andrews in 3A Area Battle
   By Craig Craker, Sports Writer ~~ Odessa American, November 5, 2006

The Monahans Lady Loboes didn’t have its best performance this season Saturday, but their effort still was good enough to win.

Monahans swept aside Andrews 25-17, 25-15, 25-15 at the Permian Fieldhouse to advance to the Class 3A regional quarterfinals against Lubbock Cooper on Tuesday at a site to be determined.

“I think we were really anxious to get after it and play this match,” Monahans head coach Peggy Dominguez said.  “We got our adrenaline going too much.”

Monahans (39-3) has advanced to the UIL State Championships for the past four seasons and has not lost a district match in those four years.  The Lady Loboes didn’t even lose a game in district play this season, which may have led to some of their struggles Saturday.

“It might have been the weak district we play in,” Monahans senior Catherine Cutbirth said.  “It’s been a long time since we played a tough game, and we were mostly looking out toward the stronger teams.”

Several Monahans players who have watched from the sidelines during past playoff runs were getting their first playoff experience.

“This was a really important match, especially for the juniors,” Cutbirth said.  “They needed the experience and need to get on a roll.”

Andrews coach Hollie Nitsch found positives to draw from her team’s effort, but she also left impressed by Monahans.

“I feel like we hung with them and for us to start out as strong as we did was impressive to me,” Nitsch said.  “(Monahans) experience plays a lot into it.  They are a great all-around team.  They are very cohesive on the court.  They are the epitome of the word ‘team.’ ”

After pulling away late to win Game 1, errors started to hurt Monahans in Game 2.  Of the 15 points Andrews (21-20) scored in the second game, 12 came from the Lady Loboes’ hitting, service or net errors.

“You want to be able to say you play your best all the time, but the fact is we are looking at some new players,” Dominguez said.  “We want to keep building toward the next game, but we have some things to work on.”

Cutbirth had 11 kills, six digs, three blocks and three aces for Monahans.  Kaitlin Mitchell had 25 assists and six digs, and Jordan Latham had 10 digs and seven kills.