Odessa High volleyball coach Victoria Smith saw plenty of positives and things to work on in her team’s first home match of the season against Monahans Tuesday.
It was a back-and-forth affair but the Lady Bronchos fell in five sets, 25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 10-15, against the Lady Loboes at the OHS Fieldhouse.
Smith said that she knew to expect a strong showing from both teams.
“Monahans is a great team and I’m happy to have them on my preseason schedule to get us ready,” Smith said. “That’s what I was expecting.”
Odessa High (2-7 overall) faced a tough challenge from the Lady Loboes early in the first set, going down 4-0 to open the match.
It didn’t take long for the Lady Bronchos to clean things up and pulled even at 4-4.
Monahans would keep it close throughout the set, cutting into the leads Odessa High built up.
The Lady Bronchos eventually pulled away for a 20-15 advantage and closed out the first set with a kill from Aubrey Villa.
The second set proved to be another close affair with both teams unable to break away the score.
That was until Monahans jumped in front from a 17-17 deadlock and pulled away to even the match.
The Lady Loboes looked to be in control for most of the third set, jumping out to a quick 15-5 lead.
The Lady Bronchos had an answer and cut a 10-point deficit to two before the Lady Loboes held them off.
Odessa High seemed to find its footing in the fourth set, propelled by multiple blocks from middle blocker Paige Byford to again even things up with a 25-23 victory for the Lady Bronchos.
Byford finished with eight kills, six digs and a team-high 5.5 blocks while middle blocker Clarissa Rodriguez led the Lady Bronchos with nine kills of her own.
Monahans then overcame an early Odessa High lead in the fifth and final set to take the victory.
Lady Loboes head coach Tracie Porras, who is in her first year leading the program, said she saw some of her players step up when they needed to.
“My two freshmen middles really did a good job taking swings, they never stopped swinging regardless of how many mistakes they made,” Porras said. “It was nice to see the fight.”
Odessa High will continue its season Friday and Saturday at the Nita Vannoy Memorial Tournament in San Angelo.
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