ORANGEFIELD —
Thought they fought the second-ranked Tarkington hard, the Orangefield Lady Bobcats could not pull out a set against the Lady Longhorns in the season opener for both squads.
The Lady Longhorns, Class 3A State Semifinalists last season and ranked No. 2 in the Texas High School Girls Coaches Association preseason poll, toppled the Lady Bobcats 25-20, 25-17, 25-17 at Bobcat Gym.
The Lady Longhorns, Class 3A State Semifinalists last season and ranked No. 2 in the Texas High School Girls Coaches Association preseason poll, toppled the Lady Bobcats 25-20, 25-17, 25-17 at Bobcat Gym.
The Lady Bobcats, who advanced to the area round last season, played well for first-year coach Meagan Adams but the Lady Longhorns utilized a handful of spurts in each set to fend off Orangefield.
The Lady Longhorns used the lanky legs and power of senior Rachel Sharp to thwart the Lady Bobcats.
Sharp, likely heading to Arkansas State, put together 12 kills, four blocks and added nine points and two aces.
Sharp's night offset pretty good one from Lady Bobcat Morgan Moss.
Moss paced the Lady Bobcats with nine kills while adding four points and a ace.
Jennifer McManus had a nice service game going for Orangefield as she notched eight points and three aces while also contributing four kills.
Marissa Bishop contributed five kills while Rylie Granger had four and Taylor Benoit three for the Lady Bobcats. Hayleigh Turley added five points and a ace while Kacey LeBlanc had a solid outing digging.
Madison O'Brien, Rachel Walden and Kim Rasberry each had seven kills for the Lady Longhorns.
Hannah Jackson contributed 12 points and a ace while Angela Welk added five points.
Tarkington opened up Game One, breaking a 6-6 tie by going on a 9-1 spurt to grab a 15-7 edge
The Lady Bobcats, behind the hitting of Moss, bounced back to trim the margin to 21-19 with a nice little 12-6 surge of their own.
However, Tarkington, behind the swings of Sharp and Rasberry, closed it out by scoring four of the next five points.
The Lady Longhorns built a early 9-4 cushion in Game Two, forcing the Lady Bobcats into catchup mode. Orangefield got as close as 18-15 but O'Brien and Walden found the hot hand for Tarkington, which closed the game with a 7-2 run.
With Game Three tied 4-4, the Lady Longhorns, behind Sharp, went on a 6-0 jaunt to grab a 10-4 edge. McManus picked up a couple kills for Orangefield to help get the score as close as 11-9 but Tarkington closed out the match late by scoring six of the last seven points.
The Lady Bobcats will look to bounce back strong Thursday when they open up play in the Vidor Tournament.
