With unbeaten College Station A&M Consolidated running away with the district championship, second-place Belton, Copperas Cove and Bryan are left to battle for the second, third and fourth playoff spots.
The Lady Tigers, who host Copperas Cove on Friday, had their first chance to create a little distance Tuesday night by completing a season sweep of Bryan.
The Lady Vikings, though, had other plans.
Bryan overcame some early serving problems and rallied to win a decisive third game to beat Belton 18-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-20 at Tiger Gym.
“Bryan came to play. They wanted to win and it showed tonight,” first-year Lady Tigers coach Justeen Patton said. “We didn’t underestimate them by any means. We knew they were a very good team and we knew they were going to come here and play. They showed up tonight.”
Belton (17-12 overall, 6-4 in 12-5A) fell to fourth in the district, a match behind Bryan (19-14, 7-3) and Copperas Cove (24-14, 7-3), which swept Harker Heights 25-16, 25-22, 25-17 on Tuesday. Bryan still has a meeting left with Consol - which beat the Lady Vikings in five games - in the season finale Oct. 28.
The Lady Tigers had their chance to take control of the match in the third game.
Senior Becca Owen (17 kills, 11 digs) had a kill from the back row to give Belton a 24-23 lead. Bryan’s Tiffany Regmund (18 kills, 17 digs) answered when her kill hit the taping of the net and slid away from defenders to tie the game at 24.
Owen responded again, slamming a kill for a 25-24 edge, but sophomore Amber Peters - starting in place of senior Kimesha Scott for the third straight match - had a service error, handing possession and momentum back to the Lady Vikings.
Belton’s Grace Weaver made an attack error from the back row and Bryan’s Katie Mitchell hit a kill down the baseline to seal the win.
“That game was real pivotal,” Lady Vikings coach Caroline Simpson said. “To stay in it and still win it, I was pleased with our effort.
“We lost to Belton last time in five. We wanted a little bit of revenge. We had a little something to prove to ourselves that we could get it done.”
Deflated from the Game 3 loss, the Lady Tigers found themselves in a 9-2 hole in the fourth before they rallied.
Belton crept to within a point on three occasions. After senior setter Myca San Miguel (24 assists, nine digs) recorded her third kill to pull the Lady Tigers within 20-19, Bryan’s Regmund, Kaylee Piatt and Amanda Cernovich added kills and Kamie Ray served out the match for the Lady Vikings.
Bryan had 12 service errors in the first two games but just one in the final two, which proved to be the difference. Belton committed 16 service errors and struggled in several areas throughout the match.
“I think there was a lot of things on our end that we didn’t take care of tonight,” Patton said. “It’s not just one person or one single skill. It was a whole team effort.
“I thought we didn’t have enough fight. I thought we didn’t execute enough. We had a lot of service errors, a lot of hitting errors. We weren’t aggressive enough on defense. Our passing wasn’t very consistent. One thing just doesn’t stick in my mind but I was disappointed with our lack of fight overall.”
That showed in the second game when Patton made several substitutions hoping to recharge the Lady Tigers. Belton scored only five offensive points as Bryan went on a 17-5 run to close out the game.
Belton now turns its attention to Friday against Cove. If the Lady Tigers lose to the Lady Bulldawgs, who beat them in four games earlier in the season, Belton will need to hold on to earn the fourth and final playoff berth.
“Now we have to worry about Cove,” Patton said. “We have to take care of Cove now."
