El Campo rallies for Lamar win
Tenacious Lady 'Birds 2-0 against Fort Bend County foes this year
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Shelby Slams It Shelby Cooper slams a ball against two Foster defenders. After El Campo's wins against Foster and Lamar Consolidated, the Lady 'Birds are 2-1 this season.

After a tough home loss to Seven Lakes last week, El Campo made a great rebound to move to 2-1 on the volleyball season.

The Lady 'Birds traveled to Rosenberg Tuesday and defeated Lamar Consolidated 3-2 in a big win.

"It feels great (to be 2-1)," said Diana Matula, head coach of the Lady 'Birds. "That's where we want to be and that's where we want to stay."

El Campo jumped out with a great start to win the first game 25-12.

The second game went to Lamar because of a few mistakes, but the Lady 'Birds kept it close, losing 25-23.

The games El Campo won were close until the end and when the Lady 'Birds won games, it was usually a dominant showing.

"We took it to them," Matula said. "It shouldn't have gone to five games, but it did. We made some passing errors and a few mistakes, but when we needed the points, the girls came through."

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Can You Dig It? Lindsey Marik probably can. She has been consistent for El Campo on the defense and frequently dives to dig a hard hit during games.

Meredith Bard had a great game serving, with 8 points and 4 aces to help El Campo to a 25-21 win.

The back-and-forth series continued again into game four and Lamar tied up the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 win. By game five, though, the Lady 'Birds had had enough of losing, and came together for a strong ending game.

Stephanie Korenek and Kelsey Gangl combined for 8 points to lead El Campo's servers. The Lady 'Birds rallied around the offensive attack for a final win of 15-5.

Ashley Zboril finished with a team-high 25 kills while Bard hit 16, Kelsey Gangl hit 13, Ashley Brooks hit 8, Kaylan Gangl hit 5, Shelby Cooper and Raven Owens both hit 4 and Lindsey Marik hit for 2 kills.

Zboril led the Lady 'Birds in serving with 30 points. Bard served for 24 points, Kaylan Gangl scored 15, Kelsey Gangl scored 14, Korenek scored 12 and Kristi Michaelsen scored 11 points.

Bard and Zboril both led the servers with 6 aces while Kaylan Gangl and Kelsey Gangl both had 3 and Korenek had 1 ace.

Brooks was the top defender with 6 blocks. Bard had 4 blocks, Cooper had 3, Kaylan Gangl and Zboril both had 2 and Jessica Dornak, Korenek and Kelsey Gangl each had 1 block.

Alexis Cooper led the Lady 'Birds with 16 digs. Korenek had 12 digs, Bard had 10, Zboril had 7, Brooks, Marik and Kelsey Gangl each had 5, Owens and Kaylan Gangl both had 3 and Dornak had 1 dig.

El Campo hosted Terry Friday and will travel to Bay City Tuesday.

24-4A VOLLEYBALL DISTRICT STANDINGS