The Yorktown High School Kitty Kat volleyball program hosted a dual match against Ganado and Nixon- Smiley on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Two matches resulting in two wins was the perfect start of the 2024 season. On the weekend, the Kitty Kats would finish 2-1 in tournament pool play, defeating Pawnee (25-6, 25-11) and Faith Academy (27-25, 2513) while falling short to Tidehaven(25-18, 15-25, 14-16).
At the home game, the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs jumped off to a lead in the first two sets but the Kitty Kats remained unfazed. With a commanding third set, Yorktown defeated the Lady Mustangs in a clean sweep of the match. During the first set, the score was tied at point 9 and remained close until point twelve.
“Our serving has been a point of emphasis in practice and it definitely showed today,” Head Coach Ashtyn Henkes said. With Palyn Koopmann and Gracie Stehling in serving positions, the Kitty Kats launched an offensive attack producing back to back runs, expanding their advantage to 17-12 and compelling NS to call their first timeout. Malayshia Thomas recorded an ace and the Kitty Kats frazzled the Lady Mustangs forcing them to commit a series of unforced errors, 20-16. The Mustangs attempted to get back into the set after missing a serve, getting called out of rotation, and receiving a foot fault call, but the Kitty Kats swiftly answered and sealed the victory with a kill by Thomas and a block by Stehling, 25-21.
Stehling not only closed out the Mustangs in the first set with a solo block but carried over her intensity to begin the second with a kill out of the middle to sharp left. The Lady Mustangs pulled ahead 12-6 resulting in a timeout by Yorktown. Coach Henkes composed her team and after two rotations Henkes’ squad tied the set,14-14. A rattled NS team was forced to call a timeout. Yorktown would string together a nine point run led by senior Braleigh Dodds serving to overcome the Mustangs, 18-14.
The momentum from winning 25-18 in the second set, propelled the Yorktown volleyball team in the third. Within minutes the team would garner a 12-6 lead. At the service line, Stehling and Sydnie Krueger scored five and seven points, respectively. Dodds replicated her serving performance from the second set, this time serving for six points, 22-16. Even though the final score of 2519 suggests that it was a competitive game, Yorktown dominated the set. In addition to praising the team’s serving performance Henkes commented, “Our middles were pretty effective, and obviously our libero was passing very well so I am proud of her.”
“The team did well getting the first game jitters out of the way,” she said. “We will look to build on being more offensively aggressive, playing to win, and I think we can put more balls away than we did for sure.”
Later in the night, the Kitty Kats would add another tally to their win column against Ganado. Yorktown demonstrated perseverance after falling short in set one and rallying back to defeat the Maidens in four.
Yorktown also hosted the South Texas Showdown, which included Bishop, Faith Academy, Falls City, Ganado, Kenedy, Pawnee, and Tidehaven on August 16–17. The Kitty Kats would finish 2-1 in pool play, defeating Pawnee (25-6, 25-11) and Faith Academy (27-25, 2513) while falling short to Tidehaven(25-18, 15-25, 14-16).
Playing against Falls City, a district rival, was the first match of the bracket. The Kitty Kats advanced to the Championship after defeating the Beaverettes. The team's hard-earned victory over Falls City demonstrated their tenacity, gritty determination, and perseverance. Falls City surged to a 6-1 start over the Kats. Following a time-out by Coach Ashtyn Henkes, a long rally pursued and ended in favor of the Kats when senior Sydnie Krueger killed the ball from the right side, 2-6. With freshman Palyn Koopmann serving, the Kats added a point to the scoreboard before returning possession to Falls City. Gracie Stehling would get a solo block, 4-9. Two aces and a line hit by Krueger that was blocked out of bounds tied the game, 14-14. A tip to the middle of the court by Falls City gave them control but only temporarily as a swing by Stehling out of the middle resulted in yet another tie at point fifteen. The match remained even through point eighteen when Falls City extended the lead, 21-18. It appeared the Kats might fall short but coming out of Henke’s second timeout a comeback was set in motion. Immediately the Kats stopped the Beaverettes however they were unable to execute from the serving line. During a long rally Krueger would attack out of the right side and Falls City would hit out of bounds, tying the game, 23-23. With energy and anticipation in the air, Koopmann aced, giving the Kats their first lead of the set. She would immediately ace again to close out the game, 25-23.
The second set started identical as the first with the Kats trailing, 1-6. In a similar manner, it concluded with a 25-21 triumph.
“We all agree that we need to start more consistently but we now know that we can push through and that was good for morale of the team,” Coach Henkes said.
In the Championship, the Kats went into the match with the objective of “keeping the ball away from Johnson, a San Angelo commit,” Henkes said. “We did a better job than Friday, but we didn’t execute offensively how we wanted. We want to pick apart defenses better coming forward.” The Kats fell short, 2521, 25-18.
Seniors Nina Villarreal and Braleigh Dodds were awarded All Tournament.
“Libero Villarreal has been doing well keeping us in play and the two senior setters are doing well running our offense,” Henkes said at the conclusion of the tournament.
