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SMITHVILLE — The Smithville High School varsity volleyball team had a pair of thrilling five-set matches this past week as the Lady Tigers hosted Caldwell High School on Oct. 3 and stayed home on Oct. 6 for another 4A-District 22 match vs. rival La Grange High School.
The Lady Tigers won its most important match of the season to date last Tuesday as Smithville was able to come from behind on multiple occasions to knock off Caldwell: 1525, 25-18, 23-25, 25-15 and escape 16-14 in the decisive fifth set to pull off the comeback victory. Smithville was led by six kills from junior Chelsea Hendrix and four kills from senior Codie Segura in the huge win over the Lady Hornets as the Lady Tigers avenged a previous four-set road loss back on Sept. 8 to Caldwell.
Against rival La Grange on Friday night, Smithville again was in a great position to make a big comeback and nearly pulled it off but came up just short. Despite falling in the first two sets and Smithville being able to force a decisive fifth set, the Lady Tigers were defeated by the Lady Leopards: 17-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21 and lost the fifth set by a slim 15-17 margin. Smithville junior Ashlyn Wilhelm led the way with nine kills, sophomore Jenna Carroll had seven kills, junior Arabella Gutierrez had five kills and junior Kaycee Nutt finished with eight digs on the night in the heartbreaking loss to La Grange.
Although the close match vs. La Grange was a very tough loss that could have gone either way, the Lady Tigers (1113 overall record and 3-5 in district play) are still in prime position to get into the playoffs. Following a home match on Oct. 10 hosting Manor New Tech High School, Smithville will travel this Friday to take on Giddings High School.
