Lady Yoe defeat Franklin for Bi-District Championship
The Cameron Lady Yoe volleyball team captured the Bi-District Championship on Tuesday night with a win over the Franklin Lady Lions.
The Lady Yoe were victorious, winning 3-2. The first point of the first set went to Cameron, and they would get a kill from Kasara Brooks (5) for a 4-2 lead. The set stayed even until Franklin took a 12-8 lead, however, Cameron stayed alive with a kill by Ainsley Driska (4) for a 16-11 deficit. Franklin pulled away to a double-digit lead of 21-11, and would win the first set 25-12.
The first point of the second set went to Cameron, as the Lady Yoe would get a kill then an ace from Haley Tucker (6) to make it a 3-1 lead. That was soon followed with a kill by Sydni Smith (1) making it a 5-1 lead, and they expanded their lead to 8-1, which would be followed with a kill by Driska to make the score 9-2.
Franklin went on a run but Cameron halted their momentum with a point by Tucker for a 13-7 lead. The Lady Lions continued to rally and the score became 14-10. Franklin tied the set at 14, but Cameron retook the lead 15-14 on a kill by Tucker. Smith then came up with two consecutive points for a 17-14 lead, and that lead grew to 21-15. Franklin came back again and the score became 21-19. The Lady Lions tied the set at 21, then took the lead 22-21. The Lady Yoe stayed alive and took a 23-22 lead on an ace by Smith, which would not be enough as they would lose the second set 26-24. Coach Elena Queen felt the big problem was the teams’ nerves were getting the better of them.
“We play so much better relaxed,” Coach Elena Queen said. “It is the second time for these girls to go to playoffs - confidence is what we are building on, I’m so thankful our reserves came in and made things happen!”
The first two points of the third set went to Franklin. Cameron would get a kill by Tucker for a score of 2-1. Cameron fell behind 6-3, but got a big kill from Driska for a 7-5 deficit. The Lady Yoe came back and took the lead 9-8, and extended their lead to 12-10 with an amazing kill by Tucker. Cameron started to pull away and their lead grew to 16-10, and extended their lead with an ace by Saydi Wimmer (12) to make the score 19-11. Kaly White (3) added on with a dump over kill for a 20-12 lead.
Franklin tried to rally back but Cameron came up with a huge block by Brooks to make it a 23-15 lead. Cameron went on to win the third set 25-19. Coach Queen used a recent message from Mr. Sprinkles as motivation going into the rest of the game.
“The message was something I remembered Mr. Sprinkles said at our last pep rally,” Queen said. “He referenced the lines on a football field and that is what separates us from them. The girls on the other side of the line had to ‘Do hard better!’ They had to find a way. We used our young girls to step in and step up – they stepped up! I’m so incredibly proud of them!”
The first point of the fourth set went to Cameron. The set stayed even until Franklin took a 6-3 lead, however, Cameron stayed alive with an ace from White to make it a 6-5 deficit. Cameron tied the set at 6, then took the lead 7-6 on another big ace from White. Franklin jumped ahead to lead 12-9, then 15-10, but the Lady Yoe fought back and made the score 16-14 on a kill by Smith. Cameron came up big with a combined block to make the deficit 20-19. The Lady Yoe tied the set at 20, then took the lead 21-20 on a clutch kill by Tucker. Cameron went onto win the fourth set 25-22 on an incredible ace by Lauren Harris (9).
Cameron began the fifth and final set strong as the first five points went to Cameron. The Lady Yoe added to their lead with a kill by Tucker to 6-1, which was soon followed with a kill by Driska for an 8-2 lead.
“We have a plan in the fifth set, goals we have to meet, and they did that - they stayed focused on the plan,” Queen said.
Franklin tried to storm back but Cameron stopped their momentum with a kill by Tucker for a 11-7 lead, which was aided with an ace from Kenan Mingus (10) to make the lead 12-7. The Lady Lions tried to make one last rally, but Cameron finished strong and won the fifth set 15-10 on an incredible kill by Tucker to complete the comeback.
Up next for the Lady Yoe will be the Scurry-Rosser Lady Wildcats in the area round at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, Nov. 4, at Buffalo High School.
The Lady Yoe played the Troy Trojanettes in a playoff seeding game on Tuesday at Temple high school. The Lady Yoe were defeated 3-2. They won the first set 25-20, lost the second set 25-18, lost the third set 25-23, won the fourth set 25-21, and lost the fifth set 15-8.