Putting it all together

Keiona Moore gets the dig, as Coach Grace Beckmeyer looks on.

By Brian Besch
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Lovelady was able to escape the north end of Polk County Tuesday with a win in four sets over the spikers from Corrigan-Camden.

Corrigan-Camden fell behind early at 5-0, and Lovelady later doubled the difference at 18-8. A rally by the Lady Bulldogs pulled them close, but the Lady Lions held on for a 25-20 win.

In the second set, the Lady Dogs jumped out to an 8-4 lead, causing Lovelady to call a timeout. Another late run for the Lady Dogs gave them a 10-point win at 25-15.

“It is a different team,” new Corrigan-Camden volleyball coach Grace Beckmeyer said of her group’s growth. “They have been doing good, but we have had a hard time with sickness and had one of our main players out. This is only her second game back. We haven’t done this rotation a whole lot, so I think it is hard. With hustling, we are getting there, but it is just knowing where you need to be first. The girls do a good job when we are rallying back and forth in ending it.”

The two final sets were hard fought, but Lovelady would prevail, winning 25-21 and 25-22 for the win in four.

The Lady Bulldogs are currently 0-3 in district, but have not had a full lineup for two of those games.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but I told them tonight I’m not disappointed because they played well. We are really strong in hustling and just getting after the ball when it is shanked and going everywhere. We need to work on our energy, because if you notice, at the beginning it was really low. Once we are up, it is electric, and everyone gets excited with all the fans. That is just something they have to learn, and it is all mental.”

The first-year coach just months removed from playing college ball at Howard Payne said she is beginning to settle into her role leading the squad.

“It is good. I am still getting in the routine of planning practices and still getting used to the head coach title and responsibilities. People don’t believe me; they think I’m still playing.”

Corrigan will need to start converting some of the close games into wins to compete in District 23-2A with Latexo, Groveton, Lovelady, Grapeland and Colmesneil.

“We went to five sets with Groveton on Friday and all games were in the 20s. It was real close, so I feel like even tonight we were pretty even. We have Latexo Friday.”