The Lady Knights entered the first round of playoffs on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 feeling rested and ready to play! They played Orange Community Christian School at home and won in three games. The girls played a strong offense and didn’t stop attacking the whole game. Top hitters for the game were senior Olivia Catlett and junior Katie Edmiston with 7 kills apiece. Senior Julia Catlett was the top server going 19 for 22 with 4 aces. Setter Lacy Phillips finished the game with 19 set assists. Isabella Schoenborn was the top passer with a 2.2 passing percentage. Olivia Catlett ended the game with 7 stuff blocks.
On Friday, Oct. 28, the Lady Knights played their second round of play-off games against San Marcos Hill Country Christian Academy. The team practiced hard and mentally prepared themselves for a tough match. The Lady Knights came out guns blazing in game one. They played with so much heart and determination and wouldn’t let a ball drop on their side of the court. After losing the first set to the Lady Knights 19-25, Hill Country came out stronger in game two, and the Lady Knights quickly found themselves in a hole. With too many hitting and serve receive errors, the Lady Knights lost game two. As the team entered into game three, they were struck with some team injuries which caused their main offensive player to be pulled out of the game. The team struggled to fight through and lost set three. After set three, the Lady Knights took a moment to collect themselves and re-focus on game four.
The team entered game four still down one of their starters and another starter was playing injured, and they quickly found themselves in a hole. Before long, Hill Country was a set point and the Lady Knights were down 16-24 when Olivia Catlett, who had been out for half of the game, stepped up to serve. Despite being one point away from defeat, the Lady Knights were calm, cool, and collected as Olivia served point after point and the team’s defense fought for every point! The Lady Knights fought themselves out of a 7 point deficit but weren’t able to finish off the game and lost 23-25.
Coach Dawson remarked about the team’s performance after the game, “I’m extremely proud of the way my team played tonight. They played with more heart and determination tonight than I’ve seen this entire season. Despite some unfortunate, ill-timed injuries they never stopped fighting to the bitter end. We’re sad we lost, but that game was a great way to end the season!”
Olivia Catlett was the team’s top hitter with 11 kills followed by Marissa Pryzborski with 6 kills. The Lady Knights ended the season with an overall record of 23-10-2. Regan Woodley was the top server going 14 for 14 followed by Olivia Catlett who was 16 for 17 with 1 ace. Setter Lacy Phillips ended the game with 16 set assists. Top passers for the game were Olivia Catlett with a 2.4 passing percentage and Julia Catlett with a 2.29 passing percentage. Olivia Catlett ended the game with 4 stuff blocks, and Regan Woodley ended with 1. The Lady Knights ended their season with an overall record of 23-10-2.
Players of the Game: Seniors Julia Catlett & Olivia Catlett