Marble Falls volleyball beats Northeast in season opener

CAPTION: Marble Falls freshman Brighton Bernard leans forward to dig this tip during the win against Austin Northeast. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School volleyball team defeated Austin Northeast 25-10, 25-14, 23-25, 25-11 in its season opener Aug. 12.

Katie Terrill served 11 consecutive points in the second set to ensure a Marble Falls win.

After cruising to capturing sets 1 and 2, the Lady Rattlers fought back in the third game. Neither team made it easy as Marble Falls senior Mia Trejo had a dump at the net to tie the set at 21-21. But Northeast took the lead on an error and a kill for a 23-21 advantage.

The Lady Mustangs responded with a cross court kill and when a ball was hit in the net, the set was squared at 23-23.

Northeast called a timeout, and Marble Falls head coach Christopher Pace, in his first year, called the Lady Mustangs over with a “timeout! Let’s go, let’s finish it!”

But a Marble Falls hitting error and a Northeast ace gave the set to the Lady Rattlers.

In the fourth set, Marble Falls raced to a 3-0 lead, but Northeast trimmed the deficit to 3-4. From there the Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Rattlers 7-2 for an 11-5 lead and they never looked back.

Marble Falls finished the contest on kills by freshman Brighton Bernard and sophomore Maddie Cuplin.

“I think we established who we are in that first set,” Pace said. “And we re-established that in the fourth set.”

Currently, 15 players are on the roster and Pace is trimming it to 12. So he used the second and third sets to evaluate athletes, mix in some different rotations, and allowed the players to show what they can do. He said he saw each player give solid contributions during the match.

“Every girl had a big hit moment,” he said.

His offense has a tempo and a rhythm. And like most offenses, it requires passes to the setter that are on target. Each hitter likes sets specific heights and placements in the air that are unique to her to make it easier for her to get the point.

Pace called volleyball a game of anticipation. And a fast offense makes it difficult for the defense to anticipate where the ball is being hit and set up to keep the rally going.

“We like to stay in attack mode and play smart,” he said.

That’s how the Lady Mustangs finished the final set, even when the Lady Rattlers tried to rally late by dumping the ball in open spots on the defensive side. In short, the Lady Mustangs didn’t get rattled themselves and showed they were up to the task by finishing the contest in four sets.

Marble Falls will compete in the Austin Independent School District tournament Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 15-17.

Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.