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Photo by Wendy Orozco Courtesy of Brett Voss’ The Sports Buzz
After getting their first win of the season in their District 18-1A opener, the expectation of the Meridian Lady Jacket volleyball team changed dramatically. Despite losing every non-district match they played during the 2022 Texas high school volleyball season, the Lady Jackets enter each district clash expecting to win.
Judging from last week’s results in two crucial matchups to wrap up the first round of district competition, those expectations stand firmly realistic. After losing a heartbreaking five set decision to the second place Covington Owls, 20-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 1614, at home last Tuesday in Yellow Jacket Gymnasium, Meridian bounced back to capture a thrilling and hard-fought five-set victory over the Morgan Lady Eagles, 24-26, 2511, 21-25, 26-24, 15-6, last Friday in Morgan.
“We didn’t have our best game tonight in Morgan,” Meridian volleyball first-year head coach Lyndsie Schur said. “But we were able to fight against adversity and finish out the match.”
After losing the first set at Morgan, the third place Lady Jackets (2-2 in district, 2-19 overall) found themselves battling out of a hole the entire match. Junior Canyon Stauffer led Meridian with eight kills and 15 service aces, six assists and six digs. Senior Catherine Lunsford also smashed eight kills, followed by junior Eve Dirske with five and senior Abby Edwards with four, while sophomore Mariana Paniagua dished out five assists and sophomore Journey Stauffer came up with three digs against the Lady Eagles (0-4, 0-12).
Despite winning the first set against Covington (3-1, 5-12), Meridian could not finish the hardfought match against the Lady Owls. Junior Hope Cabrera led the Lady Jackets with seven kills, followed by Lunsford and Canyon Stauffer with six each and Dirkse with four. Canyon Stauffer dished out a team-high eight assists and delivered 10 service aces, followed by Paniagua with nine aces and Journey Stauffer with seven.
“I’m extremely proud of the fight that the girls showed tonight,” Schur said following the Covington match. “They fought the entire match and made Covington earn every point. I knew going into this match that it would be a very good match.
“Unfortunately, we struggled at the service line (missing 21 serves), so that will certainly be a point of emphasis going forward. It’s tough to beat a good team like Covington whenever you miss that many serves. But even given the number of serves missed, our hustle and grit kept us in that game.”
After opening the second round of district by hosting the Kopperl Lady Eagles (1-3, 1-14) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Lady Jackets will have an open date in the schedule Friday before getting a rematch with district-leading Blum (4-0, 19-12) Oct. 18.
Lady Jackets celebrate at the net after a big play in Meridian.