It didn’t take long for them to realize that the postseason offers a totally different atmosphere than the regular season.
Repeatedly kept off-balance by great serving and balanced attacking, the jittery Lady Tigers fell 25-8, 25-16, 25-12 to No. 21-ranked Round Rock McNeil on Tuesday night at McNeil in the bi-district round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
“None of our players had ever been to the playoffs before and it showed,” Belton second-year coach Allison Taylor said. “I know they were excited and ready to play emotionally, but they didn’t know how to control it with their skills. They were so nervous that they wanted to do so well that it was hard to balance their excitement and their nerves with their skill. In their head, they were going a million miles an hour.”
Belton, the District 13-5A third-place team, finished its season with a 20-14 record after going 10-18 the previous season. McNeil (31-7), making its second straight appearance in the playoffs, next will play Magnolia.
Before the opening serve, the McNeil student section started to apply the pressure by chanting “Just like football,” referring to the Mavericks’ 28-25 football victory at Belton last month.
A quick block by two Lady Mavericks and a kill by Julie Weilnau on the first two points were early indicators that the result would be the same.
Libero Alyssa Corder served four aces in a five-point span to give McNeil a 9-2 lead. Reserve Bailee Graham served three consecutive aces and later added a kill to give McNeil a 17-4 lead.
“We serve aggressive,” third-year McNeil coach Karen Huffman said. “Our downfall throughout the season has been consistency at times, but the last couple of weeks we’ve been nailing that down pretty good. It was a big ace night tonight, that’s for sure.”
Added Taylor: “Once we got in one spot, they would send it somewhere else. It was hard to adjust. We couldn’t even get anything started because of our serve-receive. When we did get a pass, we had to have great rallies because they are a great team.”
Belton rebounded in the second game, showing the fight it has displayed all year.
Senior Katelyn Rosebrock’s kill have the Lady Tigers an 8-7 lead before setter Kelli Becerra kicked the Lady Mavericks offense into gear.
Becerra served an ace and distributed assists to four players as McNeil jumped to a 19-13 lead. After a brief Belton rally to trim the lead to 19-16, Becerra had a block and a kill as the Lady Mavericks scored the final six points for the win.
“She’s keeping it mixed up on the front line and delivering the ball where she needs to,” Huffman said. “We have great defensive specialists in the back row - Alyssa Corder, Stacy Mitchell and Totti Alexander - who have done an outstanding job all year for us. That makes the setter’s job a lot easier.”
With McNeil leading 2-0, its veteran lineup showed its poise and experience by not letting up.
The Lady Mavericks wasted no time in the third game, jumping out to a 12-5 lead before Taylor called timeout. Alexandra “Totti” Alexander, the 2006 14-5A Newcomer of the Year, recorded two aces and finished the match with a kill.
“We began this season not worrying about winning the district championship,” Huffman said. “We began this season wanting to win a state championship. We’ve had a lot of bumps in the road from the beginning to right now but great teams finish and great teams are consistent. As long as we strive toward that, we’ll be successful.”
Junior Becca Owen led Belton with seven kills and nine digs. Junior Myca San Miguel had nine assists and senior Candice Roberts had eight digs.
For the Lady Tigers, the loss was a difficult way to complete their season. Belton notched a 10-match improvement and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I told them that I and the coaches and everyone who seen you play know this isn’t the best you can do,” Taylor said. “They are disappointed with how they finished, but at the same for the season and for how much they’ve improved, they’ve come leaps and bounds.
“Not only did they get to the playoffs, but they finished third (in 13-5A). They played great matches and won big matches. None of them had ever been to the playoffs in volleyball. They learned a lot from it and I’m really proud of how far they came.
“As a team, they became really close. There’s a lot of tears knowing that it was over with because they’ve really worked hard to come this far.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
