“I kept noticing them talking and saying to each other ‘We’re going to finish this,’” she said. “Sometimes we’ve had trouble finishing matches in the past. In every huddle, we told them that we’re going to push through. They knew they could do it.”
The Lady Tigers scored seven of the final nine points and rallied for a hard-fought 26-24, 18-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-12 win over Killeen on Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.
The victory improved Belton to 2-0 this season - it swept Lampasas on Monday - and also gave the Lady Tigers their first five-game win in more than two years.
After Taylor called a timeout with her team trailing 10-8 in the final game, the Lady Tigers responded. Killeen committed a hitting error, junior Becca Owen recorded a kill, the Lady Roos were called for a net violation, and KC Warehime’s kill gave Belton a 12-10 lead.
Warehime added another kill before Owen slammed down the final point. The fifth game featured nine ties and six lead changes.
“That was unbelievable,” Shelly Jones said after her debut match as Killeen’s coach. “I’m so excited for our players. They have a lot of heart and they gave me everything they had tonight. They played their hearts out.”
The Lady Roos had to rally in the fourth game. Trailing 22-21, junior hitter Jamie Rodell made two kills and Amber Scott added one as Killeen scored the final four points to force a fifth game.
Rodell played a large role controlling the net for the Lady Roos. She had a match-high 21 kills, including six in the third game.
“We kind of put her everywhere,” Jones said. “She can play any position.”
With Rodell dominating the net for Killeen, Belton’s Owen did her best to match her point for point. Owen finished with a team-high 18 kills, including six in the fourth game.
“She kept getting dug so I told her to change her hitting style - either do a roll or swing harder,” Taylor said. “She played really well.”
Owen helped lead a Lady Tiger rally in the first game. Down 23-21, senior Katelyn Rosebrock had a kill to bring Belton within a point. After Owen then substituted back in, she connected on two kills and Belton won the first game 26-24.
Freshman Grace Weaver finished with nine kills and Rosebrock had seven. Junior Myca San Miguel had 23 assists. On defense, Rosebrock and Weaver had 12 digs apiece while senior libero Candice Roberts and San Miguel had 11 each.
Warehime, a senior setter, nearly missed a triple-double. She had 15 assists, 10 digs and nine kills.
“This win is so big for us mentally,” Taylor said. “For these girls to never have a winning season, this is so huge to start out 2-0. It was just a total team effort.”
Belton will play in the Wimberley tournament Friday and Saturday.
ncmeister@temple-telegram.com
