Lady Loboes Sweep Stockton
    by Jon Fulbright, Staff Writer ~~ The Monhans News, October 13, 2006

The Monahans Lady Loboes volleyball team had to make some lineup adjustments on Tuesday in Fort Stockton, but were still able to come away with a three-game sweep of the Prowlers in the Willams Center.

Monahans closed out the first half of their District 2-3A schedule unbeaten and improved to 34-3 win a 25-13, 25-16, 25-10 win over the Prowlers, who fell to 0-3 in district at the mid-point of the schedule.

Coach Patty Dominguez said the Loboes had to play without senor hitter Bethany Willmon, who was out with an ankle injury. "  I went with a completely new lineup with Heather Schulz, and we didn't get a chance to work at it before we played but overall, it was not so bad," said Dominguez.

"We used our experience with Catherine (Cutbirth) and Bailey (Marcum)," she said.

Cutbirth led Monahans with 15 kills, while Marcum had 10 and Katlin Mitchell a dozen, to go along with 34 assists in the three games.

The Prowlers, who have struggled at home in recent weeks, with losses to Crane, Fort Davis and two against Pecos, did keep things close in the second game. "  I think that the first or six balls we didn't set Catherine, and went to Heather," Dominuez said.  "It isn't that she didn't do a good job, but she's still not as aggressive as I'd like her to be.  Once we started setting to Catherine, things began turning around."

Tara Smith had five kills for Fort Stockton, while Erinn Blanco and Angie Newton had three kills and two blocks each for the Prowlers, who fell to 14-22 on the season.

The Lady Loboes can officially clinch another trip to the playoffs on Saturday, with a victory in Presidio over the Blue Devils.  Presidio lost in four games at Pecos on Tuesday and are 1-2 in district, including a three-game loss in Monahans on Oct. 3.

Due to failing grades, the Blue Devils have cancelled their freshman schedule.  Dominguez said play would begin on Saturday with the junior varsity match at 3 pm, followed by the varsity contest around 4 pm.

Monahans stays on the road Tuesday for a match in Pecos, then take a week off before closing out regular season play on Oct. 24 by hosting Fort Stockton.