The Early Lady Horns continue to maintain an unblemished volleyball record this season, as they chalked up four more victories Thursday at the Brownwood Coliseum to open play in the Heart of Texas tournament.
Early started the tournament with its second win over Brownwood this season, 25-12, 25-22, followed with a 25-8, 25-17 triumph over the Brownwood JV, swept Brady, 25-12, 25-13, then downed Coleman 25-6, 25-21.
“It was a good day,” said Lady Horns head coach Missy Vaughn. “They came out strong the first game against Brownwood and played them well. After that, we got tired a little bit but this is what the tournament are for. We use this as conditioning and a lot of going back to fundamentals and things we need to get fixed.”
Regarding Early’s undefeated start to the season, Vaughn said, “The girls just love to play. They have good camaraderie with each other, they’ve played together for a while. We’ve had quite a few of them starting on varsity since their freshman year and it just builds trust.”
In the opening win over Brownwood, offensively for the Lady Horns, Jensyn Rasor recorded a team-best six kills along with four by Aubrie Devillier, and Grey Pruett, Kailyn Gallardo, Gabby Benson, Cassidy Frerichs and Ellie Shea with one apiece.
Pruett logged eight assists and served Early’s two aces, while Frerichs finished with five assists.
On the defensive end, Pruett, Devillier and Frerichs chalked up 11 digs apiece trailed by Benson with six, Gallardo with five, and Rasor with three.
Shea finished with a pair of blocks, while Rasor, Pruett and Frerichs each notched one.
Against the Brownwood JV, Devillier led the Lady Horns with seven kills followed by five from Pruett, four from Rasor, two from Jaime Lyon and one each by Shea and Tiffany Phelps.
Pruett notched 13 assists trailed by Frerichs with two and Shea with one, while Lyon served two aces and Phelps, Rasor and Pruett each added one.
Defensively, Gallardo finished with six digs trailed by Benson with five; Devillier, Rasor and Pruett with three each; Phelps and Frerichs both with a pair; and one from Shea.
Early’s two blocks in the match belonged to Pruett.
Versus Brady, Rasor racked up 13 kills along with six from Devillier, four from Gallardo, and one by Benson.
Pruett collected 17 assists while Frerichs notched six, and Rasor, Gallardo and Devillier each served a pair of aces.
On the defensive end, Benson and Devillier each recorded two, Pruett and Gallardo finished with two apiece, and Frerichs and Shea were credited with one apiece.
The lone block was tallied by Devillier.
In the finale with Coleman, Rasor again paced the Lady Horns with six kills followed by three from Devillier and two by Gallardo.
Pruett generated five assists, Frerichs added four and Rasor chipped in one.
Benson served a team-high three aces, Rasor and Pruett each contributed a pair and Devillier finished with one
The leader in digs was Benson with eight followed by Devillier with six, Gallardo with five, Pruett with four Frerichs with two and Shea with one.
At the net, Rasor came away with two blocks.
The Lady Horns will next compete Saturday morning back at the Brownwood Coliseum in Gold Bracket play at the Heart of Texas tournament.
“I want to see more consistency,” Vaughn said of the Saturday objectives. “Our last set today we had a lot of dropped balls and miscommunication, so we need to make sure we work on that for Saturday.”
Tournament action continues Friday with Pool B competition. The schedule is as follows:
- 8 a.m.: Bangs vs. Comanche
- 9 a.m.: Snyder vs. Abilene Cooper JV
- 10 a.m.: Bangs vs. Snyder
- 11 a.m.: Comanche vs. Fort Worth Covenant
- Noon: Bangs vs. Abilene Cooper JV
- 1 p.m.: Snyder vs. Fort Worth Covenant
- 2 p.m.: Comanche vs. Abilene Cooper JV
- 3 p.m.: Bangs vs. Fort Worth Covenant
- 4 p.m.: Comanche vs. Snyder
- 5 p.m.: Abilene Cooper JV vs. Fort Worth Covenant