By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
KINGSVILLE — The Lyford Lady Bulldogs’ season came to an end in the area round of the Class 3A playoffs Thursday.
Lyford lost to the Bishop Lady Badgers 25-13, 25-14, 25-12. The Lady Bulldogs showed plenty of fight to go on small scoring runs and compete against a talented team, but they couldn’t execute their offensive system and committed too many errors to extend their season.
“I don’t think we’d been hit that hard the whole year. That was tough,” Lyford coach Rebekah Perez said. “I’m glad these kids didn’t get too rattled. They were playing it out. It was a good display of sportsmanship from the team. It makes me super proud.”
Bishop jumped out to early leads during the first and second sets as middle blocker Katie Winters showed her quick-hitting abilities. The Lady Badgers had a handful of powerful hitters, including outside hitters Bella Borchardt and Sarah Dupont, which setter Jaydee Zamora did a good job of mixing up as she delivered precise sets from all over the court.
Lyford’s back-row defense was a high point for the Lady Bulldogs in the match. Senior libero Mia Wetegrove, senior defensive specialist Damaris Bermudez and senior setter Emily Gonzalez handled Bishop’s offense well, getting under hard hits and hustling to pick up stray balls.
Wetegrove’s defense and the productive junior duo of middle blocker Clarissa Salazar and outside hitter Marley Perez sparked a solid scoring run during the opening set, trimming Lyford’s deficit to 15-12. Salazar recorded a block and sent down sharp kills to keep her team fighting, but the lack of a consistent attack sunk the Lady Bulldogs.
“The seniors really stepped up and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get back out there and battle.’ They showed it in the first set, getting to 15-12. We hung in with them,” Rebekah Perez said. “I told them, ‘You deserve to be here. You won a game just like they did.’ Doesn’t show that much in the score, but I think they’re proud of the performance they put in tonight.”
Lyford took its only lead of the match during the third set, going up 2-0 behind a pair of aces from tough-serving senior outside hitter Alyssa Garcia. Bishop responded with a 10-0 run, taking advantage of the lack of hitting to execute its offense and slam down kills. Borchardt carried the Lady Badgers offensively in the clinching set.
The Lady Bulldogs had some strong offensive moments from Salazar, Marley Perez and Garcia, but they were too scarce to build any momentum. Lyford’s setter struggled with ball control issues, resulting in bump sets that weren’t always accurate. The Lady Bulldogs sent over free balls and blasted hits long too often as they struggled to stay in system.
Salazar and Marley Perez’s strong performances are positive things going forward for the program. Rebekah Perez said with a good group of freshmen incoming and the leadership from those two juniors, the next few years should be “pretty good” for the Lady Bulldogs.
“Clarissa was rocked a little after the (bi-district) game. She didn’t really have a good showing. She wanted to do better, and I told her your time to shine will come,” Rebekah Perez said. “She really stepped up. That’s a kid that hasn’t even practiced in the past two days because she was at state for band, so to see the mental toughness and the confidence from her excites me a whole bunch. And Marley, that’s definitely our kid. She leads on and off the court. To have both of them come back next year is exciting.”