News 10/11/2006

Volleyball Roundup

Lady Panthers win big

By ANTHONY ANDRO
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Colleyville Heritage's Jordan Jesberg almost forgot what it felt like to beat Keller. The Lady Panthers hadn't won a match against the Lady Indians since Jesberg's freshman season in 2003.

That changed Tuesday as Colleyville Heritage won a crucial 25-15, 27-25, 17-25, 25-17 match. The victory moved Colleyville Heritage to 20-13 and 5-5 and into a three-way tie for fourth place in District 5-5A. Second-place Keller dropped to 15-18 and 7-3.

"We were motivated more than ever because we want that playoff spot," said Jesberg, who had 13 kills and a team-high 20 digs. "Our serve-receive passing was really on tonight. We seemed to come together more tonight than we have all season. This can definitely carry over for us because a big win always helps your confidence."

The Lady Panthers set the tempo early by breezing to a Game 1 victory behind six kills from sophomore middle blocker Amanda Anderson. Keller jumped out to a six-point lead in Game 2 but six consecutive Colleyville Heritage points tied the game at 13.

The game would be tied seven times after that, the last at 25. A Keller hitting error gave Colleyville Heritage a game point, and Anderson put the game away with her 10th kill of the match.

Keller got going in Game 3 behind the solid middle play of Christy Driscoll and Ashley Anderson. Driscoll scored three consecutive points on a pair of blocks and a kill to put Keller up 18-10, Ashley Anderson followed with two kills and Keller seemed to have gained momentum.

But Keller hitting errors helped Colleyville Heritage get off to a quick start in Game 4. Keller hung around, and a Jill Wigington kill cut Colleyville Heritage's lead to 15-13. But four kills from Jesberg and an ace from Caitlin Neese quickly stretched the lead to 20-13. The Lady Indians couldn't recover.

"The third game we got away from our game plan, but we adjusted and re-focused," Colleyville Heritage coach Libby Torres said. "But this was fun. It was also big for us."

Amanda Anderson finished with a match-high 18 kills for the Lady Panthers. Evoni Darling and Neese combined for 30 assists. Keller was led by Driscoll's 13 kills. Wigington finished with 11 kills and Brooke Burge tallied 39 assists for Keller.

Current District Standings