Lady 'Birds shock Falcons 3-2
El Campo defeats defending district champs on own home court
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Block Party Meredith Bard (11) and Kelsey Gangl go up for a block in El Campo's match with Foster. Bard connected here to halt the Falcons and had 5 total in the match.

Tuesday was a glorious day for the Lady Ricebirds.

El Campo's varsity volleyball squad traveled to Richmond to take on the defending 24-4A district champion Foster Falcons.

In what is commonly known as one of the most difficult places to play in the district, El Campo came away with a 3-2 win to start off district play 1-0.

"It was hectic," Kelsey Gangl said. "They beat us last year, so we were really excited to beat them this time."

Head Coach Diana Matula was thrilled when El Campo finally claimed the match in the fifth game. She ran to her girls and caught a few of them by surprise with big hugs.

"This is the biggest win in years that I can think of," Matula said. "It was a great comeback and the kids just never gave up. I kept telling them, 'Be positive, no matter what happens. Just keep playing until the end and we'll come out on top.' We did."

L-N Photos by Kris Bagley Surprise Win! Coach Diana Matula (above) surprises Ashley Brooks with a big hug after El Campo's 3-2 win over Foster. Ashley Zboril (below) sends a pass while Stephanie Korenek backs her up. The Lady 'Birds are 1-0 in district play after Tuesday's win.

El Campo fell behind early, losing the first two games 25-18 and 25-23.

A turnaround in the face of defeat on Foster's home court made the victory even more sweet for El Campo. The Lady 'Birds came through with a clutch win to take the final three games 25-23, 26-24 and 15-9.

"It's a tough place to play and it has always been tough," Matula said. "It has been years since we've won down here, so it feels really great to beat them on their home court."

The Lady 'Birds' great comeback in the presence of adversity proved to Matula El Campo's true potential for excellence.

"They can be great," Matula said. "If they get it together and play as hard as they did, there's no telling what they can do this year. That's what I'm looking for from them. They have the potential, I've just been waiting for it to come out. It's starting to come out and I see it."

After they fought back to tie the match at 2-2, the Lady 'Birds faced the toughest game of the night.

Even though there were closer scores in the match, the fifth and final game put immense pressure on El Campo because it would determine the overall winner.

With only 15 points needed for a win, instead of the usual 25, a little quick momentum put a team ahead and all but secure a win.

Foster took an early advantage and moved ahead 2-0 to start the game.

Meredith Bard started off El Campo with great power at the net to score first for the Lady 'Birds.

Foster scored the next point and then made an offensive mistake. The Falcons hit the ball out of bounds to give El Campo control.

Bard came up to serve and tied the game at 3-3, but the Falcons moved ahead again on the next serve.

The entire match moved back and forth in this manner for most of the night. The fifth game was especially tense. Foster moved ahead and El Campo came back to tie the game three times before the Lady 'Birds moved ahead for good.

With the game tied at 8-8, the Falcons sent a serve directly into the net. The mistake proved costly as it brought Stephanie Korenek up to serve for the Lady 'Birds with a 9-8 lead.

Foster tried to stall Korenek twice with timeouts while she was serving, but her calm demeanor on the court helped the Lady 'Birds score 5 consecutive points to move ahead 14-8.

"She can keep her cool," Matula said. "She did a great job and she's one of my consistent servers. I was glad she was back there serving. They didn't break her concentration and that was great."

The first point came on a powerful block by Kelsey Gangl and put El Campo up 10-8.

Foster immediately called a timeout to ice the Lady 'Birds. A more unsteady server may have been shaken, but not Korenek.

"I just had to relax and make my serve, get my toss up and everything," Korenek said. "It all comes into play and I did it. It doesn't bother me. I just take a deep breath and relax, that's all."

Korenek came back out on the court for another well-placed serve.

Ashley Zboril connected for the next score at the net and El Campo moved ahead 11-8.

A great fake by Bard put the Lady 'Birds up 12-8. She approached the net looking for a quick slam and hit the ball in the opposite angle to catch Foster off guard.

Down by four points, the Falcons called another timeout, but it was to no avail.

El Campo moved ahead 13-8 with another great attack.

Korenek's last point in her save came quickly. Her speedy serve gave the Falcons trouble and ended up as an ace.

Foster scored next to cut El Campo's lead to 14-9, but on their next possession, the Falcons served the ball out of bounds and delivered the win to El Campo.

Bard led the Lady 'Birds with 15 kills while Shelby Cooper had 12, Kelsey Gangl had 8, Ashley Zboril had 7, Kaylan Gangl had 6, Ashley Brooks had 5 and Lindsey Marik made 1 kill.

Korenek led all servers with 21 points. Kelsey Gangl finished second with 19 points, Bard had 18, Kristi Michaelsen had 13, Kaylan Gangl had 12, Zboril had 9, Cooper had 8 and Marik had 1 point.

Kaylan Gangl, Korenek, Bard and Zboril each served up 2 aces in El Campo's win.

Alexis Cooper led the defense with 17 digs while Kelsey Gangl had 3, Zboril and Korenek both had 2 and Marik had 1 dig.

Bard made a team-high 5 blocks with Brooks finishing second with 2 blocks.

El Campo hosted Seven Lakes Friday night and will travel to Rosenberg Tuesday to play Lamar.