The 11th-ranked Lady Eagles swept No. 5 Rogers 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 at Harley Doggett Gym on Tuesday night to pull even atop the District 25-2A standings.
After two previous losses to Rogers (32-2 overall, 9-1 in 25-2A), Salado threw its usual preparation routine earlier in the week out the window.
“We really came in relaxed,” Salado coach Bree Holz-Gonzales said. “The last two times we’d played, it was real tense, there wasn’t a lot of smiling on the court.
“We approached it as having fun, goof around a little bit if you have to.”
Salado (29-4, 9-1) appeared relaxed early as it started to pull away from Rogers midway through the first game. Lindsey Coffey served up four straight points to help Salado open up a 14-9 lead. Salado expanded its lead to seven on one of Danielle Hazzard’s team-high 20 kills.
After Rogers rallied to cut the lead to just one at 21-20 on an attack error, Salado scored four of the next six points to claim the first game 25-22.
Salado jumped out to another good start in the second game. Jenna Sebek’s back-to-back kills gave Salado a 10-2 lead. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 11 after a cross-court spike by Hazzard before Rogers started to rally.
A pair of kills by Nicholyn Carter-Maddux, who had eight, brought Rogers within six at 23-17. But Salado closed out the second game with a Rogers error and a tip by Brennan Boydstun.
Dropping those two games put Rogers in a situation it’s rarely been in, needing to win a game simply to avoid a loss.
And despite a strong start in the third game, there was too much ground for Rogers to make up.
“We didn’t play our usual game,” Rogers coach Pam Lomas said. “Offensively, we just didn’t get some things going that we’d hoped to have going. Defensively, we just kind of struggled on that, too.”
Though it was close early, Salado opened up an eight-point advantage in the third game and finished it off with an ace by Kaitlyn Ruth.
For Salado, Sebek had 12 kills and Boydstun and Hazzard served two aces apiece. Sebek had a team-high two blocks, Ruth recorded 40 assists and Hazzard and Coffey had 17 digs each.
For Rogers, Dana Schaffner had 13 kills, while teammate Cayleigh Drake had five. Kelsey Hudson had 28 assists and Carter-Maddux recorded 14 digs.
Salado will host Lago Vista on Friday night, while Rogers hosts Lexington.
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
