HS Volleyball: Lady Cavaliers Keep Playoff Pace with Home Win Over Caney Creek

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The College Park Lady Cavaliers (26-10) handily defended their home floor against the visiting Caney Creek Lady Panthers (16-18) in a straight-set sweep.

Pink balloons and pieces to College Park’s uniform highlighted the team’s push for the spread of breast cancer awareness. The pink-out game is always a favorite of players and parents, and the loyal Lady Cav fanbase showed their spirit by mirroring the team’s colorful additions.

College Park’s previous match against the Lady Panthers ended in a 3-0 sweep on Caney Creek’s floor. The lessons from the efficient win and the games played since have been applied to ensure a similar result.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, College Park Head Coach Candice Collins Gibson spoke on her team’s preparation for the upcoming rematch against Caney Creek.

“We mainly stayed focused on ourselves and what our goals are,” said Gibson. “We always continue to prepare the same no matter who we’re playing.”

A range of issues plagued the teams to open the match, with neither racking up efficient points.

Caney Creek was affected by the dominant front-row play put on by the Lady Cavs. Blocking from the immovable Lacy Tinnell constantly forced incoming Lady Panther kills back in the team’s face while slamming home a few kills herself.

“I am extremely proud of the front row,” said an excited Gibson. “Tonight, we had several ‘happy birthdays’, and I was proud of them for playing heads-up ball when those overpasses came and how they transitioned that into kills.”

When their front row did tally scores, College Park was hindered by the team’s early serving. Serves out of bounds and into the net kept the Lady Cavs from sustaining their potential momentum while awarding the Lady Panthers with free points.

The inconsistent scoring meant neither team could effectively break away early, and the point-trading led to eight ties before College Park fixed their issues and started to flex their strengths.

Continued hitting from the many interchangeable pieces on the College Park front row pushed the Lady Cavs on a breakaway that thoroughly built distance on the scoreboard. Multiple runs of 5+ points pushed the team into a double-digit lead that became too much for the Lady Panthers to handle.

College Park’s lead got as high as 13 before the final point came on an aired kill from the Lady Panthers. The 25-12 opening set win was a tone-setter that demonstrated the scoring capabilities possessed by the Lady Cavs.

More ties started the efforts of both teams in the second set, with College Park taking an early lead that was undone by a Caney Creek scoring surge. The five ties nearly matched the first set, but adjustments made by the Lady Cavs were enough to generate an early lead.

“A lot of it came down to going back to basics, over-communicating, being louder, and moving faster,” said Gibson. “We tried to run different lineups tonight and give people opportunities, so when you do that, you’re going back and forth when it comes to getting into a groove.”

Similar to the Lady Cavs, Caney Creek took their time to implement adjustments that benefited the team’s limited first-set offense.

Lady Panther hitters concentrated on placing their hits around the taller College Park blockers rather than trying to hit directly through them. This change rewarded the team with points that tallied similar to their first-set numbers through the midway point of the second.

Fortunately for College Park, their multiple runs were enough to build distance on the scoreboard once again.

A handful of runs around four points apiece pushed the Lady Panthers into an increasingly deeper hole. Defensive plays from College Park added to the team’s nearly all-around success, adjusting on the fly to Caney Creek’s revamped attack.

“There is great maturity on our defense,” said Gibson. “Seeing the girls be able to make those quick decisions and stay focused on the game and what needs to happen is impressive.”

With the Lady Cavs approaching set-point, Caney Creek called a timeout to try stopping the College Park advance long enough for the team to potentially make a run.

Unfortunately for the Lady Panthers, their run never came. Strong communication out of the break kept College Park on the initiative, and the Lady Cavs took a two-set to-none advantage on the heels of their 25-17 victory.

College Park’s push to finish the clean sweep was evident by the team’s play to start the third and final set.

Despite two early ties, the Lady Cavaliers relied on the trusted methods that racked up points through the first and second sets. Sound blocking, authoritative kills from the front row, and aces from Morgan Madison piled on points early for College Park.

The dominant 10-0 run for the Lady Cavs completely outdid anything Caney Creek could have mustered with the team’s back against the wall. Massive gaps in the Lady Panther defense allowed College Park to deal the knockout blow well before the midpoint of the set.

A Caney Creek timeout tried to stop the seemingly never-ending Lady Cav run, but the points continued to build in favor of the relentless College Park push.

College Park’s lengthy run ended with 14 unanswered points making it the largest run by either team during the match.

The brief stoppage in College Park’s scoring was not nearly significant enough for the Lady Panthers to mount a last-second comeback. All phases of the game were in the Lady Cavs’ control throughout the third set and the 25-8 scoreline mercifully ended the dominant close to College Park’s clean sweep.

The win keeps the Lady Cavaliers on pace for a coveted playoff spot, but it keeps the team within reach of surpassing the rival Woodlands Lady Highlanders. The Woodlands took the first district matchup, but confidence and back-to-back wins have the Lady Cavs ready for the rematch.

“I think it’s a good warmup for us to have a good win on Tuesday going into Friday,” said Gibson. “We get some confidence going into Friday and I think it gets us into a routine with having a Tuesday game and a couple days of practice.”

College Park’s rematch against The Woodlands will be held in the Lady Highlanders’ gym on Friday the 18th, with a start time of 5:30 P.M.

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