GARLAND — The Bellville High School volleyball team faced off with Decatur High School Nov.
22 in the state championship game held at the Curtis Culwell Center and were defeated in four sets by a final score of 22-25, 21-25, 2624, 23-25. After losing the first two sets, Bellville made an impressive comeback to keep Decatur on their toes in the final two sets, but Deca- tur found ways to put the ball down just a little more.
"We missed too many serves," said Bellville head volleyball coach Susan Brewer.
“That was number one. That’s something we’ve taken a lot of pride in all year. The moment wasn't too big, but it kind of got in our heads a little bit in the very beginning. We settled down. I thought we improved our defense.
Decatur played extremely well.
They had two very nice hitters, 11 and 12. We struggled with our block a little bit to stop them. I’m very proud of our defense and we gave ourselves an opportunity to get ourselves back in the match."
Senior outside hitter Sydney McKay had a nice outing offen - sively and has been a key contribu - tor on the offensive side of the ball throughout the entire season.
"I'm just super blessed," McK- ay said. “We pushed it to the max capacity. We fought every single game. It didn’t end the way we wanted to, but I'm super happy with this season that we had with this team. It's really special." Decatur started the first set with a 5-1 lead, which Bellville eventually tied at five with a kill from McKay. After going back and forth for the majority of the set, the Lady Eagles were able to gain a lead as big as 23-19 on a ball out of bounds from Bellville. A few more kills from Bellville made it 24-22, then a serve in the net from Bellville won Decatur the set 25-22.
A tight second set led to an ace from Bellville senior defensive specialist Cadence Lischka and ball out of bounds from Decatur put it at 11-7 in favor of Bellville.
Decatur gained a three point lead back towards the middle of the set and eventually made it 19-14 on a ball out of bounds from Bellville, forcing the Brahmanettes to call a timeout. Bellville fought back once again and made it 22-21 on a block, which led to three points in a row from Decatur on a kill, a ball out of bounds from Bellville, and a tip ball to win the set 25-21.
Both teams traded points early in the third set and the Brahma - nettes eventually separated them selves with a 12-7 lead on a bunch of kills to force Decatur to call a timeout. A block and an ace from Decatur would tie it at 17 after fighting back, then the two teams went back and forth again towards the end of the set where a ball out of bounds and a ball in the net from Decatur would win the set for Bellville at 26-24.
The Lady Eagles started the fourth set on a high note with a six one lead, which included an ace, a ball out of bounds from Bellville, and a number of kills.
Another ball out of bounds from Bellville would eventually make it 11-3, then Bellville made a miraculous comeback through - out the rest of the set with a few blocks, some mistakes from Decatur, and a handful of kills mixed in. Two kills in a row, one being from McKay, tied it at 21 before two kills from Decatur se - nior Peyton Dickson and one kill from senior Lara Hornsby won Decatur the set and match 25-23.
