EC falls short of playoff run
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Work The Gap Shelby Cooper tries to work the ball past two Foster defenders. This was one of the few times the opposition blocked her this year.

El Campo's volleyball season faced playoff elimination Tuesday after the Lady 'Birds lost to Seven Lakes in three games.

The Lady 'Birds traveled to Rosenberg Friday to face Terry in a must-win scenario for El Campo. The Lady 'Birds' playoff hopes hinged on a victory, but suffered a 3-game loss.

Terry officially eliminated the Lady 'Birds from post-season contention Friday. More information on the Terry loss will be in Wednesday's edition of the Leader-News.

Undefeated Seven Lakes topped El Campo 3-0 with scores of 25-9, 25-13 and 25-14 to send the Lady 'Birds to 3-4 in district play. While El Campo lost, Terry defeated Bay City 3-1 to put pressure on the Lady 'Birds who were hoping for a playoff berth when they traveled to Rosenberg.

"Seven Lakes is very good, They're very aggressive and play great defense," said Diana Matula, head coach of the Lady 'Birds.

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Super Z Ashley Zboril (1) attacks the net as Stephanie Korenek (bottom) prepares for the next move. Zboril is a constant threat for the Lady 'Bird offense.

With three more matches left in district play, including Friday night's showdown with Terry, El Campo is in a tough situation. The Lady 'Birds hopes would have been kept alive with a win, but a loss eliminated El Campo from playoff contention.

During practice Thursday afternoon, Matula spoke openly about her team's need for a win in Rosenberg.

"Must-win tomorrow night," she said. "If we lose (against Terry), that's it. We've got to beat them on their home court. I know they're going to be tough, but we have to do it if we want to be in the playoffs. We're going to have to give them another loss."

A win over Terry would have practically guaranteed at least one extra match for the Lady 'Birds at the end of the regular season.

The end of the regular season schedule is a favorable match for El Campo. The Lady 'Birds have already defeated Lamar Consolidated and Bay City on the road this year and should be able to handle both teams at home to end with a pair of wins.

If Terry lost to El Campo, the Lady Rangers would have a tough time taking their last two games. Terry faces undefeated Seven Lakes and Foster to finish district play.

A Lady 'Bird win Friday, coupled with a 2-0 record and another Terry loss either to Seven Lakes or Foster would have put both El Campo and Terry tied for third place at 6-4 against district opponents.

In that case, the two teams would have met for a one-match tiebreaker, much like last year when El Campo defeated Bay City, for the right to move on to the playoffs as the district's third-place team.

The loss immediately eliminates the Lady 'Birds from the playoffs because Terry would have the tiebreaker with a 2-0 record over El Campo.

Regardless of the end of the season, Friday's match was needed for El Campo to advance and the Lady 'Birds knew it.

A tall Terry defense handed El Campo a loss earlier this season. To counter a net attack, the Lady 'Birds have worked to hit the ball along the sidelines instead of trying for mid-court kills.

"We've been working on that," Matula said. "Hit it down the line. We've got to pass better, we've got to attack the ball and we've got to hit it hard.

We've got to block better too. We lost some points, I thought, when we missed some blocks (in the earlier match) and hopefully we can block better."

One thing Matula said she is sure of is the tenacity with which El Campo will approach the last few games of district competition.

"They never give up," Matula said. "I think they'll come out fighting. It's going to be a fight to the finish, so we'll see what happens."

El Campo will host Lamar Consolidated Tuesday and host the Bay City Lady Blackcats Friday for the final game of the season.

Both nights are sceduled to start at 5 p.m. with the freshman team.

24-4A VOLLEYBALL DISTRICT STANDINGS THROUGH TUESDAY