Champion volleyball coach Kelly McDaniel is proud of her team for being 3-0 in district after the Lady Chargers picked up a five-set marathon win over Smithson Valley Tuesday night at home.
Just like Tuesday, the previous two 26-5A victories have gone five sets as well. McDaniel said she would love it if they could win a district match without having to go five sets but will take the victories any way they come.
“If that’s how they need to do it, then that’s how they need to do it. Our girls can outlast; that’s for sure,” she said. “They’re in shape, the fact that they go in that fifth set, that’s a hard thing to do.”
The Chargers dropped the first set to the Rangers, 25-21, but evened it up at 1-1 with a 25-21 win in Game 2. Champion dropped the third set, 25-17, but rallied to win the final two games, 25-18, 15-7.
“They do a really good job of trusting each other and when they don’t it shows, like in that first set,” McDaniel said. “They found a way to battle back and rely on each other without having to overplay.”
Champion is 17-2 overall and 3-0 in district. They hosted Madison Friday in a non-district match and resume 26-5A action Tuesday at Alamo Heights.
The Chargers entered the week ranked No. 14 in the latest TGCA 5A poll.
After falling behind 2-1, the Rangers were up 14-11 in that fourth set, but the Chargers went on a 6-0 run thanks to some tough serving from Brielle Boothe. McDaniel credits Boothe’s serving as the turning point in the match.
After that 6-0 spurt that put them ahead 17-14, the Chargers never trailed the rest of the set and won it by seven points to take it to Game 5.
In the winner-take-all set, it was tied 3-3, but Boothe dropped in another ace to put Champion ahead, 4-3, and they never looked back.
The Chargers were up 9-5, forcing a Smithson Valley timeout, but that didn’t slow down Champion. They closed it out with a 6-2 run to seal the victory.
Champion had four finish with double-digit kills after Cassidy Breuer tallied 15 kills, Taylor Fenton had 14 kills, Boothe netted 13 kills and Brady Cooksey added 10 kills.
Boothe dropped in 7 aces, Fenton came up with 5 blocks, Hannah Perez led the team in digs with 23, Boothe recorded 19 digs, Breuer had 13 digs, while Cooksey tallied 15 digs and 40 assists.
The Chargers host Boerne High on Sept. 12.
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