Lady Yoe defeat Rockdale in five set nail-biter
The Cameron Lady Yoe Volleyball team avoided a major scare on Friday as they defeated the Rockdale Lady Tigers 3-2.
The first point of the set went to Rockdale. The set stayed even until the Lady Yoe got two straight aces by Ainsley Driska (4) for a 7-3 lead. Rockdale marched back and made the score 10-9, but Cameron fought back and grew the lead to 15-10. Cameron got a kill by Driska to make the lead 17-11, but Rockdale came back again to make the score 17-16. Cameron remained on top with a block by Haley Tucker (6) for a 19-16 lead. Tucker stayed focused with a kill to make the lead 23-18, and later spiked another set clinching kill to win the first set 25-20.
The first two points of the second set went to Cameron. The set stayed even until an ace by Sydni Smith (1) gave Cameron a 7-4 lead. Another ace by Lauren Harris (9) made it a 9-5 lead for the Lady Yoe, and a kill by Driska made it a score of 13-8. Cameron would get a kill from Tucker for a 19-15 lead, and one from Kasara Brooks (11) for a 21-15 lead. The Lady Yoe would seal the set with a kill from Driska to win the second set 25-15.
“We came out with great energy,” Coach Maria Gonzalez said. “We did a great job of keeping momentum and playing confident.”
The third set started slow for Cameron as the first seven points of the third set went to Rockdale. The Lady Yoe broke the drought for a 7-1 score, but the Lady Tigers grew their lead to 10-1. Cameron broke the streak on kill by Smith for a 13-2 deficit, then scored two straight points for a 13-4 game. Rockdale continued to dominate the set as the Lady Yoe deficit grew to 16-6, then to 21-7. Cameron would go on to lose the set 25-9.
The Lady Tigers picked up where they left off as the first point of the fourth set went to Rockdale. The deficit for Cameron grew to 4-1, but they fought back to make it a 6-5 game. A kill from Harris made the deficit 7-6. However, Rockdale continued to roll as the deficit for the Lady Yoe grew to 11-6 then to 17-8. Cameron made the score 20-13 and tried to start a late rally but would lose the fourth set 25-15.
“We could not pull our side together,” Gonzalez said. “We let them have long runs serving and just couldn’t find our groove back.”
The first point of the fifth and final set went to Rockdale. Cameron would soon take the lead and get a kill from Driska to make the score 4-2, but Rockdale came back and tied it at 5. The teams would exchange points until the Lady Yoe got a kill from Kaly White (3) for a 9-7 lead and later a kill from Driska for a 12-8 lead. Rockdale tried to make another push near the end but Cameron held on to win 15-11 to seal the victory.
“We just told them that they had to make the choice to play to win,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve talked a lot this week about winning and expecting to win. They’ve worked really hard and have made great strides mentally. We’ve just got to be able to play confident consistently.”
With this win, the Lady Yoe has an overall record of 21-15 and a district record of 4-2 to put them in second place in the district standings.
The Lady Yoe fell in a tough five-set match at Rogers Tuesday night 19-25, 26-24, 25-17, 21-25, and 13-15.
They are set to face Academy on the road on Friday night starting at 4:30 p.m.