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Lady Deer sweep Sterling
Tuesday night was one of those nights for the Lady Deer Volleyball team. Everything seemed to go their way in a 25-13, 25-16, 25-14 sweep over Baytown Sterling at the North Campus.
In the first game of the match, the Lady Deer and Sterling went point-for-point before Deer Park took control. The Lady Rangers trailed by 13 points at one point in the set as Deer Park cruised to a 25-13 victory in the opener.
The Lady Deer had trouble putting a lot of points between themselves and Sterling before amassing eight unanswered points to put them up 18-8. However, the Lady Rangers rallied to close the gap to 19-15 before Deer Park closed the game with a 5-1 run of its own.
Sterling took its first lead, albeit short-lived, 3-1, at the beginning of the decisive third game of the set. From there Deer Park went on a 10-2 rally to go up 11-5. The Lady Rangers closed the gap at one point, 17-14, the Lady Deer put the game away for the three-game sweep.
Head coach Gay Sabatell said she was confident her team would regain control on its own after dominating most of the night.
"'[Sterling] had a couple of spurts in the second game and then in the third. They have to learn to work through things on their own and make adjustments," she said. "They've played enough ball that I can leave it up to them to do that. We have to do it on the fly. We matched up well with them. They didn't let many balls fall on the floor."
On a team that has only two returning seniors, Shelby Bridges and Haley Hoffman, Sabatell said the Lady Deer (5-2), will have to capitalize on all of their strengths to be successful.
"At this point, our strength is our chemistry. Hopefully we can hold this together. We have a long way to go, so let's see what happens. We have to stay consistent against anyone we play. Whoever is across the net from us, we have to remember to do the things that allow us to be successful."
With district play more than a month away, Sabatell is using every match as a learning experience and confidence builder for the team.
"Sterling is someone we could see in the playoffs. We've played Dickinson, [and Clear] Lake, who are other teams we might see down the road. It helps our confidence, but at the same time, we have to remember that preseason and postseason are going to be to different times. We need to take the time to learn now," she said.
The Lady Deer will participate in the Pearland Tournament, which runs Aug. 26-28 before traveling to Clear Creek on Aug. 31. Their next home match is Sept. 3 against Dawson High School. Home matches are played at the North Campus.
Deer Park Volleyball scores:
Freshmen 2, Sterling 0 (25-15, 25-10)
JV 2, Sterling 1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-14)