Lady 'Birds fall in tight match

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Caught By Korenek Stephanie Korenek delivers a pass for the Lady 'Birds while Jessica Dornak (4), Ashley Zboril (back, left), Ashley Brooks (7) and Raven Owens (right) watch.

The Lady 'Birds hosted the Calhoun Sandies Tuesday in a tough volleyball match.

Despite playing well and coming through with a lot of energy, the Lady Birds' lost as the Sandies claimed victory with a 3-1 match win.

Calhoun is traditionally considered one of the better programs in the area and is 15-10 on the season after their win over the Lady 'Birds.

El Campo got off to a great start to begin the match.

The Lady 'Birds held off a charging Calhoun team to come away with a close 25-23 win.

Kelsey Gangl, one of El Campo's most consistent servers this season, led the team with 10 points and 1 ace in the game while the defense was particularly strong.

Ashley Zboril, Alexis Cooper, Meredith Bard and Gangl each had 2 digs in the game to help keep the ball off of the floor.

Calhoun rallied back to take the next three games, but they were closely contested because of El Campo's intensity.

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Throw It Down, Kaylan Kaylan Gangl goes for a kill at the net while Stephanie Korenek (back) looks on. The Lady 'Birds lost in a tough match to Calhoun Tuesday 3-1.

Bard Zboril led the Lady 'Birds in serving for the second game. Zboril scored 6 points and served up 4 aces while Bard scored 7 points with 1 ace.

Despite El Campo's serving surge, Calhoun came through to win the game in extra points 27-25 to tie the match up at 1-1.

The Sandies held off El Campo in the third game with a 25-20 win to take a 2-1 advantage over the Lady 'Birds.

Even in the loss, El Campo's defense was strong.

The Lady 'Birds combined for 16 total digs with Raven Owens leading the way with 5 digs and Kristi Michaelsen and Bard finishing with 4 digs each.

The fourth game decided the match and send the Sandies home with a win.

Calhoun won 25-21 despite a strong game at the net from Bard. She led the team with 4 kills in the game.

The loss puts El Campo at 10-9 on the season, but a strong performance gave the Lady 'Birds momentum moving into an important part of the season.

Zboril led the Lady 'Birds at the net with 12 kills. Bard finished second with 9 kills while Kelsey Gangl had 6, Shelby Cooper had 5, Kaylan Gangl had 4 and Stephanie Korenek had 3 kills.

Along with her net play, Zboril also had the strongest game serving for El Campo. She led the team with 20 points and 7 serving aces.

Bard scored 18 points and served 2 aces, Kelsey Gangl scored 18 points and made 1 ace, Kaylan Gangl served for 12 points, Michaelsen and Korenek both served for 9 points and Ashley Brooks had 1 serving point.

Michaelsen ran El Campo's attack well and set up the Lady 'Birds for some big scores. She made 22 assists on the night and was followed by Owens' 9 assists.

Defensively, Kelsey Gangl led the way with 9 digs. Bard finished second with 7 digs while Owens and Zboril each had 6, Korenek had 5, Alexis Cooper and Michaelsen both had 4 and Kaylan Gangl had 1 dig.

Bard made a team-high 5 blocks while Korenek made 4, Shelby Cooper made 3, Kelsey Gangl made 2 and Zboril and Kaylan Gangl both made 1 block.

The Lady 'Birds fell to the Sandies in a close match, but their play is consistently improving as the district season approaches.