The Brownwood Lady Lions delivered what their coach called one of their best performances of the season Tuesday night, but the effort was not enough to upset the No. 14 Brock Lady Eagles in District 6-4A volleyball action at Warren Gym.
Brownwood lost 25-21, 25-22, 25-13 on Senior Night. The defeat left the Lady Lions 0-9 in league play and 7-26 for the season heading into their regular-season finale.
Brownwood competed closely in the opening sets
The Lady Lions controlled much of the first set and built their largest lead at 17-14. Brock rallied to tie the score at 21 before scoring the final four points.
Brownwood fell behind 11-4 early in the second set but battled back to within two points on multiple occasions. The Lady Eagles ultimately closed out the set and took a 2-0 lead.
“This is probably the best we’ve looked for the majority of the season,” head coach Kristen Grimes said. She credited the team’s energy, serve receive and serving plan, saying Brownwood’s execution took Brock out of its offensive system more often than the Eagles wanted.
Grimes also said the Lady Lions defended better and created better opportunities for their attackers. Serve-receive consistency had been a challenge for much of the season, she said, but the team handled that part of the game well Tuesday.
Hooker leads Brownwood attack
Demayha Hooker led Brownwood with nine kills. Ashantia Green added six, while Camryn Gipson had four. Kaydence Chandler and Kimber McLean recorded two kills each, and Lexi Driskill and Adyn Lucas contributed one apiece.
Driskill distributed 13 assists and Jordyn Brixey added 12. Green served two aces, while Chandler, Brixey and Abby Brasher each had one.
Green and Brasher led the defensive effort with 12 digs apiece. Driskill had eight digs; Brixey and McLean recorded four each; Lucas and Hooker had three each; Gipson had two; and Chandler, Kendall Ratliff and Kinsey Chandler had one apiece.
Kaydence Chandler recorded all three of Brownwood’s blocks.
Seniors recognized before finale
Hooker and Gipson, the two senior members of the Lady Lions roster, were honored before the match for their contributions to the program.
Grimes said both seniors hope to continue playing volleyball in college and have received offers or interest from schools. “They’ve got some offers, some schools looking at them, and I think if they continue to stay focused on what the goal is they can be successful at the next level,” Grimes said.
Brownwood’s regular-season finale is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at home against Stephenville. The match was moved up one day because of Homecoming festivities scheduled for Friday.