SPORTS
Volleyball Update
Nocona
Wanting to face one last great test before district starts, the Nocona Lady Indians traveled to Melissa on Tuesday for one last final exam.
Facing a state ranked 4A team with some superior size at the net and dynamic outside hitters, the match was sure to test everything the Lady Indians had worked on and experienced throughout the first month and half of the season.
Nocona was able to win the first set in convincing fashion 25-18 as the Lady Indians showed no fear in being aggressive in their attack. The second set went awry from the beginning as Nocona struggled with their serve-receive and fell behind quickly. They were never able to get anything going as the Lady Cardinals won going away with it 25-12 to tie the match.
The third set was tight throughout and went down to the wire. The Lady Indians trailed 23-21 and it looked like Melissa might go up one set on them. Nocona stormed back and the set went to extra points, where they were able to pull off the 27-25 win to go up 2-1.
Trying to close out the Lady Cardinals, Nocona again struggled with their serve-receive and was unable to mount a consistent offensive attack to break Melissa’s serve. The Lady Indians lost 25-18 as it went to a fifth and final set. They were not able to turn around their fortunes as Nocona lost 15-9.
Averee Kleinhans led the team with 18 kills, Rachel Patrick led the team with 16 assists, Laramie Hayes led the team with 24 digs and Ella Nunneley had three aces.
Nocona opens district against City View at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.
Prairie Valley
It was another tough district match-up for the Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs as they hosted district power Archer City on Tuesday.
Right after playing the other big dog in the district Windthorst, Prairie Valley was hoping to compete better against a similar challenging opponent. While the second set proved to be a disaster, the Lady Bulldogs were able to compete well in the first in second set. Ultimately, they were not able to steal at set off the Lady Wildcats as they lost in straight sets 25-17, 25-6, 25-20.
Emily Carpenter led the team with seven kills, Sydni Mess had 10 assists, Shelby Roof had 13 digs and CeCe Mahin had one block.
Prairie Valley will be searching for their first district in as they play Electra at 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.
Forestburg
Things did not go well for the Forestburg Lady Horns on Tuesday as they hosted Valley View.
Not able to get much going, the Lady Horns lost in straight sets by the scores of 25-4, 25-8, 25-9. Lacy Huddleston led the team with three kills and Faith Moore led the team with four assists. Both had six digs each to lead the team while Kassidy Travis and Issabella Roller each had one ace each.
Forestburg next plays rival Saint Jo at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 at home.
Gold-Burg
A promising start made it seem like the Gold-Burg Lady Bears had a chance to get their first district win Tuesday night at home against Electra.
Unfortunately, a promising first set was stolen from them and Gold-Burg could never recover.
The Lady Bears jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set as the Lady Tigers were having trouble with their serve-receive as unforced errors led to a lot of free points. Electra did turn things around and tied the set up at 10-10. Gold-Burg was still serving well enough and was still able to make the Lady Tigers their own worst enemy’s, feasting on free points as they led 19-16.
Electra came back and had a slight 23-22 lead, but the set was still anyone’s for the taking. The Lady Bears could not get enough balls to bounce their way as the Lady Tigers won 25-23.
The second set started out as a disaster. Gold-Burg’s serve receive could not make consistent passes to mount an offense capable of breaking Electra’s serve. The early tactic some of Lady Bears had of just getting the ball over the net and hope the other team messes up, was not working. The Lady Tigers got much more sharp as the match went along. This led to more mistakes from Gold-Burg as their serving became inconsistent when they did have an opportunity.
The Lady Bears did make a valiant comeback after falling behind 16-4, losing only 25-16 and hoped that late set play would carry over into the third set. Unfortunately, it was a similar story in the third set, but there would be no comeback as Electra won 25-7.
Gold-Burg will be looking for their first district win as they play Harrold at 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 on the road.
Saint Jo
It was not a good game for the Saint Jo Lady Panthers as they lost at Alvord on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers had a chance to win in the first three sets, but could only pull out the win in the second as they lost in four sets.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to steal the first set out from underneath Saint Jo as they won 26-24. The second set was just as close, but the Lady Panthers were able to close things out as they won 25-22 to tie the match. Alvord was able to win the close third set 25-20 and won the fourth set running away with it 25-14 to win the match.
Bailey Melton and Maddie Ogden led the team with three kills each while Charity Brawner led the team with five assists.
Saint Jo next plays rival Forestburg at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 on the road.
To read all of the full stories, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
It was announced last week Nocona Athletic director/football coach Blake Crutsinger is resigning from his position at the school after serving four years.
Crutsinger said now is the time for his family to make the move, with his daughter Avery graduating after spending four years at Nocona and with his son Kellar about to enter high school and wanting the same for him at another school.
“With her going off to college, she had a really good four years here and just looking at Keller heading into high school and exploring some opportunities that might be better for him, it is just time,” Crutsinger said.
Crutsinger went 19-22 overall, helping the Indians to two playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. The team’s best season was 2023, when it went 8-2 and won the district title, the first one in 11 years for the program.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo senior Payzlie Cervantes signed her letter of intent to play college basketball last week at Highland College in Kansas. She also played volleyball, softball and ran track at Saint Jo. “After talking with Coach Tana Coleman, I really connected with her and loved the campus vibe and direction she wants for the team,” Cervantes said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my basketball career while getting my associates degree in nursing to become a registered nurse.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Last week Montague County had five girls from Bowie and Saint Jo compete at the state tennis tournament, and one team brought back some hardware.
Sisters from Bowie, junior Heidi and freshman Willow Siebert brought back a bronze medal competing in the 3A girl’s doubles bracket.
The pair were the first people from the program to make it back to state since their half sisters, Meagan and Myah Russell, advanced nine years previously.
The Sieberts came into state as a two-seed, having finished second at the regional tournament the previous week.
The duo was ready as they blew through their first two matches. They beat a team from Hondo in the first round with the scores being 6-1, 6-1 and dominated even more in the second round against a team from Tatum, winning 6-0, 6-1.
That got them through to the second day of the tournament, but Coach Dayna Boothe was worried they had had it too easy on day one.
Playing in the semifinals, the Lady Rabbits faced a familiar foe, a team from Peaster they had beaten in the regional tournament the previous week. Unfortunately, near the end of the first set, with the Sieberts fighting to stay alive, Heidi went after a high lob and slammed into the fence. She hurt her right arm and had to play through it for the rest of the match.
They lost the match with the scores being 6-3, 6-3.
It was an all Peaster final, with the other side of the bracket producing the team that both beat the Sieberts at the regional tournament and won their second straight state title.
Still, despite the disappointment, Bowie is bringing back a bronze medal. According to Boothe, after contacting people who would know dating back to the late 1970s, it could possibly be the program’s first medals from the state tournament in tennis.
Of course, Bowie was not the only school represented. Saint Jo had Taylor Patrick competing in girl’s singles and the team of Bailie Nobile and Maxey Johnson competing in girl’s doubles in the 1A classification.
Senior Patrick was making her third appearance at the state tournament, but her first in the singles competition.
She finished third at the regional meet which meant she had a tough first round matchup against a second seed from Fort Davis.
It took everything from Patrick in a match that lasted two and a half hours. She went down in the first set 6-2, but rebounded in a tight second set to win 6-4 to force a third and final set. She had the momentum and won 6-2 to move on.
She had to summon the energy to play later that day against a fresh one-seed player from Utopia. Patrick lost 6-1, 6-1 to end her Saint Jo career. Her opponent would go on to finish second.
Juniors Johnson and Nobile were making their first appearances at the state meet after finishing second at the regional tournament. In the first round they played a tough match against a team from Marathon. It seemed evenly matched throughout, but small mistakes at inopportune times cost them throughout the match. In the end, the team lost by the scores of 6-3, 6-3.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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