Lady Loboes Bring Home Silver from San Marcos
    Jessica Ray, Staff Writer ~~The Monahans News, November 19, 2007

The Lady Loboes made their fifth appearance at the State volleyball tournament since 2002 on Friday and Saturday in San Marcos. Only for Texas 3A teams shared the prestige of qualifying for the event, where the Ladies first took on white Oak in the semi- finals.

The state seminal match got off to a scary start on Friday afternoon, as the first four serves were consecutive aces against the Lady Loboes. The Lady Necks came to the tournament by way of an impressive 44-1 record. But the Lady Loboes were not spooked, and sent the home 44-2.

Jordan Latham was able to break the fifth serve,  but the return went out of bounds to put Monahans at a 0-5 disadvantage. Finally, White Oak missed a serve to put the Lady Lobes on the scoreboard. Bailey Marcum was responsible for the next four points, but Monahans still battled for behind, unable to take a clear lead. Finally, with both teams tied at 21, the Lady Lobes were able to break out with a Latham kill to the middle of the White Oak court. The Lady Necks handed Monahans the final two points with a net violation and an out of bounds hit for a 1-0 Green lead.

Game two was a similar battle, only it was White Oak that had a slow start. The Lady Necks were able to battle back, but at a 21-point tie, again, Monahans began the game's end. The Lady Lobes let the last two White Oak returns go out of bounds for a game-tow win.

The Lady Necks were able to take game three in a close 23-25 score, but Monahans took its most substantial win in the fourth game, coming behind from a six-point deficit. Latham put down a kill before Schulz and Kati Holly settled a block to close the gap and take the lead, 17-16. A Lady Neck missed serve, followed by two points from Marcum sealed the match win for Monahans with a 25-20 game win, and a 3-1 match win.

The victory earned Monahans a pass to the next round to face the Wimberley Lady Texans, the defending state champions. The Lady Texans held on to their title, but it took five games to send Monahans away.

Wimberley started strong to put Monahans on the losing end of a 4-9 gap, but three Marcum kills helped tighten the game to 9-9.

The Lady Texans kept strong however, and rallied to put another trench in the score, this time a 10-17 Wimberley lead. Kristi Holly put a tip over the Lady Texans that finally let the Green take the lead at 20-19, and Wimberley Coach Lee Grisham took a timeout.

The break did not stop Monahans momentum, and the Lady Loboes went to game point, with the Lady Texans not far behind at 21. An out was called on Monahans, then the Green dropped a block at the net, allowing Wimberley to ward off the end of the game. A block by the Texans tied the score at 24. Two volleys later, the teams were tied at 25. Then 26. In the end, Schulz blocked a hit, followed by an ace from Kaitlin Mitchell to win game one, 28-26.

Game two saw a Wimberley kill move the Texans one step closer to game point at 19-23. Schulz put down a hit that went right through the block before Coach Patty Dominquez called a timeout. The teams came out of the huddle with a Wimberley kill ending the game, 20-25, tying to match at 1-1.

In game three, it was Monahans'  turn to win, which they did decisively, ending wit a Marcum ace for Monahans to win 25-16.

Toward the end of game four, Wimberley had reached game point with the Lady Lobes at 14. Monahans then went on a three-point run to fend off the win, but a kill ended game four 17-25 and tied the match 2-2.

In the tiebreaker, the score looked good for Monahans. A Kristi Holly slam put them up by four, 6-2 before the Lady Texas took a timeout. Out of the huddle, Wimberley tipped the ball  to score. Then, Marcum put down a kill, which was answered with a Wimberley slam and another point to slim the margin, 7-5.

Monahans took a time out, but the Lady Texans would not be slowed. Wimberley went on a five-point run to take the lead. A net violation gave Monahans a sideout, and Latham slammed down a serve return for a point.

The next serve was missed into the net to leave make the score 9-11. The Texans let  a Mitchell serve go out of bounds for the next Wimberley point before taking the next three and the game, 10-15.

The Competition was the only finals match of the day from 1A to 5A that did not end in a sweep.

Two Lady Loboes, Mitchell and Marcum, were selected to the all- tournament team.

The Lady Loboes end the season with a 36-11 season record. The Lady Loboes' only losses went to 4A and 5A schools. In fact, the only 3A team Monahans lost to all season were the State Champion Lady Texans.

keyed by Jennifer Lario, Junior 07-08