Leadership carries Lady Gobblers to fourth straight win

By Jacob Stock

The Cuero Record

Over the course of her high school career, Lady Gobbler senior Daniella Saenz has seen her fair share of touches on the varsity floor. Now a four-year varsity letterman for the Lady Gobblers volleyball program the experience and leadership she brings has been a vital component to a team that has started off the year going 9-5.

“I feel like my confidence has defiantly went up beyond the years,” said Saenz on how her experience on the court will help her flourish this season. “I’m just really excited. I want to give it everything I got, it’s my last year so I just want to leave it all on the court.”

Saenz, totaling 16 kills to pair with four aces, helped carry the Lady Gobblers to last night’s win over the Sinton Pirates in four sets 25-20, 17-25, 25-23, and 25-10. 

Bromli Watson, a junior, tallied a season-high 38 assists in the win. Watson so far this season has complied 217 assists, good for 15.5 per game.

“I think I have just done a really good job at being a leader this year because that’s what setters have to do,” said Watson on setting up her teammates. “I think that everyone’s beginning to get on the same page and just starting to really be smart with the ball and where they place it with my sets.”

The win improved Cuero to 2-0 at home, dropping only two sets out of eight on their home floor so far this season. 

In the middle of a back and forth set one, the Lady Gobblers would rally off on a 5-0 run to give them some much-needed breathing room leading 17-11. Sinton would immediately respond by chipping the Lady Gobblers lead down to 18-17. From there, sophomore Arissa Carbonara, and Saenz, would help carry the Mean Green to the set win 25-20.

In her second season on varsity, Carbonara has taken a leap that has seen her become a major contributor.

“Arissa has worked hard to earn a pivotal position and we’re excited about her potential and future in the program,” said Lady Gobblers head coach Chelsie Lemley. 

In set two after being tied up at 13 apiece the Pirates would outscore the Lady Gobblers 12-4 down the stretch to take the set from Cuero 17-25.

“Gaining momentum was key in the first set and stopping their momentum was equally important,” said Lemley. “Our errors contributed to [our] decline in set two. We cannot afford to be a high error team when we’re playing high-level volleyball.”

Sinton would carry over their momentum to start the third set jumping out to an early 6-1 lead. Battling back, Cuero would tie the game at 14 courtesy of a Darcy Leinen kill. Leinen added 2.5 blocks on the evening. 

Down the stretch, a total of six lead changes brought the set down to the wire. A Saenz kill would put the cap on a hard-fought set win for the Lady Gobblers 25-23.

Out of the gates to start set four, Cuero opened up the scoring leading 9-0. As the wheels fell off for Sinton, the Lady Gobblers cruised to claiming the set win 25-10. 

“We always talk about needing perfect effort to be successful and that was a good example,” said Lemley when asked about her team’s effort to battle back in set three. “Senior leadership pulled out our win tonight. We leaned on them to get the job done and they came through for their team.”

Senior Maddie Fink totaled 23 digs, while fellow senior Cydine Johnson contributed on both ends for Cuero. 

Winning games at the Roost has been something the Lady Gobblers volleyball program has continued to do. Dating back to the 2019-2020 season, Cuero is now 30-12 compiling a 71.43% winning percentage on their home floor in those 42 games. 

With the Cuero Classic Tournament set to take place this Friday and Saturday, Aug. 26-27, the Lady Gobblers will be carrying a four-game winning streak into play. After the Cuero Classic, the next home game will not be until Sept. 9 when they start district play against San Antonio Fox Tech.

Read about the Lady Gobblers results at the Cuero Classic Tournament in next week's edition of The Cuero Record (8-31-2022). Call 361-275-3464 to subscribe.