Sports Update
Early season form: Lady Bobcats fall to Denison at home
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@starlocalnews.com
CELINA -- The Celina volleyball team rebounded from a season-opening loss to Sanger Tuesday night with a pair of victories over Bonham and Cumby in the Collin County Spikefest.
However, the team's second home match of the season went much like the first and the Lady Bobcats fell to Denison in four sets (22-25, 25-13, 20-25, 19-25) Friday night.
"We played good in one set and then struggled in the others," said Billy Coleman, Celina head coach.
After dropping the opening set of the match, the Lady Bobcats went toe-to-toe with Denison in the early going of set No. 2. The two teams were knotted at eight points apiece before Celina pulled away for good and scored 17 of the final 22 points to even the match at one set apiece.
"We're young," Coleman said. "That's always a good thing and a bad thing."
The Lady Bobcats couldn't find that second set magic for the remainder of the game though and struggled with unforced errors for much of the night.
Denison turned the tables on Celina in the third set and after taking a 7-6 lead, pulled away from the Lady Bobcats to eventually earn a 25-20 victory.
"We've got to eliminate some mistakes," Coleman said. "A lot of that has to do with our passing. It has to get better."
Service errors were a problem during the final two sets with several rallies ending on a botched serve.
With just two seniors and two juniors on the team, the Lady Bobcats are still working off early-season rust.
"It's the little things that killed us," Coleman said. "The intensity level and hustle could get better."
Things went from bad to worse in the fourth set when the Lady Bobcats found themselves trailing 11-3 after the first 14 points.
As the team has already shown several times this season, a comeback immediately followed the slow start and Celina rallied to score 11 of the next 14 points to knot the set at 14 points apiece.
The comeback was thanks in large part to sophomore KJ Stastny, who had three kills during the stretch, to put Celina right back into the game.
After a timeout, Denison came back strong and showed the early-game form that put the team ahead. Six straight Denison points put Celina into a 20-14 hole and the Lady Bobcats weren't able to dig themselves out once again.
With a 25-19 victory in the final set, Celina dropped its second consecutive home match and fell to 2-2 on the season.
"We just have to keep getting better," Coleman said. "We should be OK."
With Celina wins over Bonham and Cumby on the first day of the Collin County Spikefest, the Lady Bobcats found themselves in Gold Bracket of the tournament Saturday morning.
The team was set for a 10 a.m. game in Anna with eyes on its first tournament championship of the season.
"We put ourselves in position to win," Coleman said.
Following Celina's tournament run, the Lady Bobcats will return home to play Sherman Tuesday with the freshman team kicking off the action at 5 p.m.
However, the team's second home match of the season went much like the first and the Lady Bobcats fell to Denison in four sets (22-25, 25-13, 20-25, 19-25) Friday night.
"We played good in one set and then struggled in the others," said Billy Coleman, Celina head coach.
After dropping the opening set of the match, the Lady Bobcats went toe-to-toe with Denison in the early going of set No. 2. The two teams were knotted at eight points apiece before Celina pulled away for good and scored 17 of the final 22 points to even the match at one set apiece.
"We're young," Coleman said. "That's always a good thing and a bad thing."
The Lady Bobcats couldn't find that second set magic for the remainder of the game though and struggled with unforced errors for much of the night.
Denison turned the tables on Celina in the third set and after taking a 7-6 lead, pulled away from the Lady Bobcats to eventually earn a 25-20 victory.
"We've got to eliminate some mistakes," Coleman said. "A lot of that has to do with our passing. It has to get better."
Service errors were a problem during the final two sets with several rallies ending on a botched serve.
With just two seniors and two juniors on the team, the Lady Bobcats are still working off early-season rust.
"It's the little things that killed us," Coleman said. "The intensity level and hustle could get better."
Things went from bad to worse in the fourth set when the Lady Bobcats found themselves trailing 11-3 after the first 14 points.
As the team has already shown several times this season, a comeback immediately followed the slow start and Celina rallied to score 11 of the next 14 points to knot the set at 14 points apiece.
The comeback was thanks in large part to sophomore KJ Stastny, who had three kills during the stretch, to put Celina right back into the game.
After a timeout, Denison came back strong and showed the early-game form that put the team ahead. Six straight Denison points put Celina into a 20-14 hole and the Lady Bobcats weren't able to dig themselves out once again.
With a 25-19 victory in the final set, Celina dropped its second consecutive home match and fell to 2-2 on the season.
"We just have to keep getting better," Coleman said. "We should be OK."
With Celina wins over Bonham and Cumby on the first day of the Collin County Spikefest, the Lady Bobcats found themselves in Gold Bracket of the tournament Saturday morning.
The team was set for a 10 a.m. game in Anna with eyes on its first tournament championship of the season.
"We put ourselves in position to win," Coleman said.
Following Celina's tournament run, the Lady Bobcats will return home to play Sherman Tuesday with the freshman team kicking off the action at 5 p.m.
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