Published: July 16, 2008 04:58 pm            

Finishing on a high note

Cleburne ends summer play with victory over Mineral Wells

ALEDO — After dropping Game 1 38-29 against Weatherford on Tuesday night, Cleburne rebounded with a 41-30 win over Mineral Wells to close summer volleyball action at Aledo High School.

Kiley Beard served a pair of aces as the Lady Jackets took a 3-0 lead early in the match, but Mineral Wells battled back to knot the score at 5-5.

Cleburne had an answer once again, as Rebecca Anderson had a kill and a block to up the lead to two before Haley Von Tungeln gave the Lady Jackets an 8-5 lead with with ace.

The teams traded the lead back and forth for the next several points as Beard took a pass from Lacy Stinebaugh and knotted the game at 10 with a kill at the net.

The Lady Jackets took back the lead at 11-10 when Mineral Wells hit the ball out of bounds and never trailed again.

Cleburne held leads as large as 16 during the match, with Stinebaugh setting up Anderson, Beard and Aley Zachary for several kills.

She also had an impact at the service line, serving back-to-back aces to give Cleburne an 18-11 lead.

Anderson followed with a block and a kill to stretch the lead to 21-11.

After the Lady Rams closed to within 26-17 later in the match, Cleburne scored seven straight points to bump the lead to 33-17 on a Beard block.

With Cleburne holding a 37-23 lead, Mineral Wells made another run to cut the deficit to 37-29, but Zachary had a pair of kills and Anderson came up with a block to end the match.

In their first match of the night, the Lady Jackets jumped out in front of Weatherford 10-7 in the early going behind aces from Stinebaugh and Von Tungeln and a pair of kills from Beard and Zachary.

The Lady Kangaroos scored the next four points to reclaim the lead at 11-10.

After Weatherford took a 26-16 lead, Beard and Anderson recorded kills to keep Cleburne close and the Lady Jackets cut the deficit to 26-22 on three consecutive aces by Stinebaugh.

Anderson tied the contest at 26 with a kill, and she and Beard teamed up for a block at the net to give the Lady Jackets a 27-26 advantage to cap an 11-0 run.

Weatherford rebounded to score the next eight points for a 34-27 lead the Lady Kangaroos wouldn’t relinquish.

Weatherford blocked a pair of Cleburne kill attempts down the stretch and also served two aces on the way to the victory.

In three weeks, the Lady Jackets open fall practice for the high school team.

Cleburne will kick off the season with the Midnight Run at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 4, the first day high school volleyball teams can practice.

The event will take place at the Marshall Young Track and Field Complex, with the players angling for spots on the varsity, junior varsity or freshman teams based on their performances in the timed running events.

After competing in District 8-4A the past two years, Cleburne will play in District 16-4A this season.

        

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