Tony Eierdam/The Community News: Aledo senior hitter Blaire Fowler, right, tries to console senior hitter Allie Bettinger moments after the Aledo Ladycats fell to Canyon Randall, 25-22, 25-18, 25-17 Friday night in the Region I semifinals at Angelo State University.

By Tony Eierdam

State-ranked No. 4 Canyon Randall, behind the strength of junior hitters Aubree Piper and Ashley Davis, defeated the No. 11 Aledo Ladycats 25-22, 25-18, 25-17 Friday night in a Region I semifinal at Angelo State University.

The Ladycats finish the season with a 38-7 overall record. Randall will advance to the regional final on Saturday and will face the winner of the No. 1 Hereford/Arlington Seguin match.

Piper finished with a match-high 20 kills, with Davis adding 9 stoppers.

Senior hitter Allie Bettinger led the Ladycats with 9 kills, with senior hitter Abby Tomas adding 8. Senior hitter Blaire Fowler contributed 5 kills and had a team-high 5 blocks.

Also, senior hitter Addi Mantooth and sophomore hitter Jordan Jacobs each finished with 3 kills.

Aledo led 21-20 in the opening game until a kill each by Nikki Luetkahans and Davis gave the Lady Raiders a 22-21 advantage. The game was tied at 22 after a Randall return error, but kills each by Matraca Bradstreet and Luetkahans brought the opener to game point.

On the next rally, a combination block by Luetkahans and Piper gave Randall a 25-22 win.

Randall led from start to finish in the second contest. A kill by Bettinger followed by consecutive aces from the senior, who signed a college scholarship letter with Samford on Wednesday, cut the Lady Raiders' lead to 7-6.

The teams traded the next four points before Piper fired off consecutive kills and Tawney Westenburg added a stopper to extend Randall's lead to 15-10.

Later in the match the Ladycats cut the Randall lead to 18-14 after a kill in the middle from Jacobs off a cross-court pass from junior setter Tara Gough.

However, the Ladycats never got closer as Randall's Piper sent down a spike for kill to give her team a 7-point win and a 2-0 lead in games.

In game three, Randall once again grabbed an early lead and never let go. Piper had 5 kills in the contest, and Randall wrapped up game three and the match on a kill by Davis.