The Herald-Zeitung

An improbable six-point comeback in game four Tuesday was just the norm for the Smithson Valley volleyball team. The Rangers had just done the same a day earlier.

Smithson Valley scored seven straight points to grab a 25-24 lead in its fourth against Austin High in a Class 5A bidistrict playoff at Canyon’s Cougar Den, going on to win the match on a block assist by Tara Henry and Kayla Keller. The triumph gave Smithson Valley a 25-15, 9-25, 27-25, 26-24 win.

“We practice being down by eight and things like that all the time. In fact we did that (Monday) and I told them that,” Smithson Valley coach Liana Gombert said. “I wasn’t surpised we did it because volleyball is such a game of momentum.”

The Rangers (27-12) will play ninth-ranked San Antonio O’Connor in the area round later this week. The 16th-ranked Maroons ended their season 26-8.

Smithson Valley trailed 24-16 after a ball handling error by Lydia Werchan but refused to give up, picking up two quick points on an Austin serve out of bounds and failed attack by the Maroons’ Laura Martin.

“We got a few unforced errors in there, but we’ll take the points how we can get them,” Gombert said. “I was very proud of our girls. They settled down and showed a lot of poise.”

An attacking error tied the score at 24 later in the game, then Smithson Valley took the lead on a block assist by Desie Baker and Tamika Heline. Austin tied it a point later at 25-all, but the Rangers retook the lead on a Keller attack, on a long volley kept alive by two impressive digs from Jessie Hartman and Kristen Carter, senior captains looking to keep their playing days going a bit longer.

“That definitely motivated us,” Hartman said. “We didn’t want that to be our last match.”

Heline had 16 kills for the Rangers, who got four aces each from Jennifer Listerman and Hartman. Baker had two blocks and Tara Henry had one, while Paige Hamilton had 22 digs and Carter added 20.

The Rangers jumped ahead in the match 1-0 with a dominant 25-17 victory in game one. Smithson Valley trailed 13-12 before it put together a 11-1 run, ending the match on a kill from Keller.

But the strong finish didn’t produce any momentum for the Rangers. The Maroons gradually built a lead on strong defense and effecitve passing.

“They’re a very good team and play a tempo we just hadn’t seen yet,” Gombert said. “It seemed like one minute they weren’t there and then ‘bam,’ there they were.”

Three of the Rangers’ final four points came by way of Austin errors, as Smithson Valley failed to get on track offensively. The scoring drought produced a 17-4 run to cap the Maroons’ second-game win.

“Coach told us they would start slow and would fight,” Carter said. “We just weren’t ready for how strong they did come back.”

Smithson Valley trailed most of the way in game three, but started to get rolling down 13-15. A hard spike by Henry closed the gap to a point, getting the crowd back into the game before tying it on a kill from Heline.

The teams traded leads until Smithson Valley went up 25-24, winning the game when Hartman was inserted into the lineup and immediately delivered a service ace.