James Albritton / The Community News: Seniors Allie Bettinger (R) and Blaire Fowler go up for a block in the Ladycats' playoff win over Mansfield Legacy High School Monday night.

By Tony Eierdam

With a nail-biting victory last week over Stephenville and a convincing win over Mansfield Legacy Monday night in the regional quarterfinals, the state-ranked No. 11 Aledo Ladycats have advanced to the Region I tournament in San Angelo.

The Ladycats defeated Legacy, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, and won a 5-game thriller last week against Stephenville.
It is the first time Class 4A will stage volleyball regional semifinals and finals at a tournament site.

The Ladycats will face state-ranked No. 4 Canyon Randall – a winner Tuesday over Frenship – in a regional semifinal match at 5:30 p.m. at Angelo State University. The winner will face the winner of the No. 1 Hereford/Seguin semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the state tournament, Nov. 20-22, in San Marcos.

“I think we match up with Randall really well,” Goings said. “But just like we have seen in the playoffs, the team with the best chance to win will be the team that makes the least amount of errors while staying aggressive and pounding the ball.”

Aledo began the season as the No. 5 team in the state, but slipped to No. 6 a few weeks into the season and to No. 10 at the beginning of district play. Halfway through the district slate, the Ladycats dropped to No. 11 despite having not lost a match.

Ladycats senior hitter Allie Bettinger said it would be unwise for any team to believe Aledo isn't strong since slipping slightly in the state rankings.

“We just sent a message that everyone should be afraid of us,” Bettinger said. “In game two we really didn't play our game, and in the next two games we just came back and played our game. We were getting really good sets, and our defense also was good. (Randall and Hereford) haven't seen us since the beginning of the season, so they really don't know what we have. we have come together more as a team, and we are clicking with our setter (Gough). Tara does a great job especially when you realize she used to be a middle (hitter). She makes it easy for the hitters.”

Gough feels her experience as a hitter has helped her in the transition from hitter to setter. For the past three years, the Ladycats setter had been Jordan Goings, now setting up hitters at Lubbock Christian University.

“It was a big switch, but I worked really hard over the summer,” Gough said. “I really like playing setter. Our hitters were on tonight. Every set I put up for them they just put it away and did great jobs. I am really excited about going to the regional tournament, and the team is excited. We have really come together as a team, and I think we will do great.”

Goings hopes her team learned a lesson during the last two playoff matches.
“I told the girls to learn from what they saw from legacy,” Goings said. “Legacy is an attacking team, but they came out and played it safe. That gave us every opportunity to set up our attack. That's what I want my girls to see because we did that in two games against Stephenville. We tried to keep an even tempo in the two games we lost against Stephenville, and you can't do this at this point in the playoffs. You have to put the ball away. Legacy is a good team, but they did not show us what they are made of tonight. We had them on their heels all night.”

Aledo jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening game against Legacy courtesy of a Broncos' service error, a kill from Tomas, and a block and kill from Fowler. However, the Ladycats could not put the Broncos away and Legacy eventually tied the contest at 13 apiece.

But AHS, on the strength of a 6-point service run by senior Addie Mantooth (including a pair of aces) following a Legacy return error, went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-13 lead. Bettinger sent down two blasts for kills in the run, with Tomas and Fowler each adding a stopper. The run was also fueled by a Legacy return error and a double-contact violation.

Legacy came back to cut the AHS lead to 23-18, but a kill from Mantooth followed by another Broncos' return error sealed game one for the Ladycats.

Game two was tied eight times before Legacy scored three consecutive points to take a 23-20 lead. A kill by Fowler stopped the run, but Legacy countered with consecutive points to square the match.

“We missed too many opportunities in the second game,” Goings said. “We could have taken that game but didn't. I told them after (game two) to quit toying with them and to get out there and put it away.”

The Ladycats went back on the attack in game three. AHS started out with a 5-0 advantage after a pair of kills each by Tomas and Fowler and a block by Tomas. A crafty setter tip by Gough later in the game extended the AHS lead to 10-4, and three rallies later a topspin ace by Bettinger increased the Ladycats' lead to 12-5. However, Legacy, the district 8-4A champions, showed why they were a first-place team and came back to cut the Ladycats' lead to 19-16 in the pivotal contest.

However, with Legacy playing overly aggressive at the net, Gough sent a sly setter tip to an open area of the Broncos defense for a kill that produced a 20-16 lead. Late in the game, Legacy committed a service error followed by a return error to get AHS to game point.

On the ensuing rally, Tomas sent a cross court set to Fowler, who slammed the ball down to the reeling Legacy defense to clinch the game.

Aledo's hitters stayed hot in the fourth game. Bettinger went off with six stoppers Tomas added three and Fowler, sophomore hitter Jordan Jacobs and Mantooth each sent down a pair of stoppers.
Gough sent a brilliant behind-the-back set to Tomas, who slammed a thunder-spike kill to clinch game four and the match.

“We just started attacking again (in games three and four),” Goings said. “We were getting our good passes up and pounding the ball. Our middles worked really well and got to the block, and that opened it up for our outside hitters. Blaire and Jordan did a great job in the middle. If they weren't hitting they were drawing the block off. They did their jobs. The girls on the back row also did good jobs. Our passing was good tonight.”

Against Stephenville on Nov. 6 in the area championship, Aledo had taken the first two games 25-19 and 25-17 at the Granbury High School gym, but the Honeybees came back with consecutive 25-17 wins to tie the best-of-5 match at two games apiece.
Stephenville seemed to have solved the riddle of the Ladycats' front row, but when the match was seriously on the line, the AHS senior front row of Bettinger, Fowler and Tomas came through with big hits off the sets of Gough and rallied to take game 5 and the match, 15-10.

Tomas had four kills in the fifth game, including the match-winning kill from the right side off a brilliant behind-the-back cross court set by Gough. Fowler had three stoppers in the deciding game, and Bettinger added a pair of kills and a timely ace.

However, in a game that saw momentum swing back and forth, it was perhaps a defensive play that saved the match for the Ladycats.
With Aledo leading 10-6 in game five, a hard Stephenville hit looked ready to hit the floor and give the 'Bees a much needed point which would have shifted momentum back on the SHS side of the court.

But senior defensive specialist Jessica Yeager made a chin-to-the-floor dig that frustrated the Honeybees, and a wide SHS return gave the Ladycats a valuable point at a crucial moment in the game for an 11-6 advantage.

Stephenville did regroup and cut the AHS lead to 12-10, but Gough set up Tomas for a kill in the middle, and on the next rally, Fowler blasted a spike for a kill in the middle to bring game 5 to match point.

On the next rally, Gough distributed a crafty set to Tomas on the right side, and the 6-2 senior sent the ball down with authority to clinch the match to the delight of the huge throng of Aledo fans.

"We just told each other not to give up and to keep working harder," Yeager said. "We knew we had to forget about everything else and just concentrate on game five. This team will never give up."
Goings said going five games and winning the match will be something the team can draw from during its playoff run.

"The best thing about this match was it going to five games," Goings said. "We needed that kind of pressure on us because we haven't had that all season. The girls needed to know how to stay composed and how to fight it out in a five-game match. I really think we were the stronger team, and we did make a lot of mistakes, but I liked the pressure that was put on us and how the girls responded. We needed that."

Goings told the team before game five that aggressive play from the start would be the key to winning.
"I reminded them that (game 5) goes to 15, and I told them Stephenville had got to 15 before they had in the last two games, and that we needed to get on them quickly and get on the tip. Jessica's dig was huge. Stephenville knew they couldn't hit through us, so they decided to hit high and over us. But we also started swinging hard again in the fifth game, and it paid off."