By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
gmsportsmedia2023@gmail.com
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KELLER – Lily Boatner picked up a cross-court kill for the Keller Indians, giving them a 22-17 lead against Aledo in the third set of Monday night’s season opener. The Indians sat three points from taking a commanding 2-1 lead in one of the best matches to begin the season across the state.
Aledo reached the Class 5A D1 state semifinals last fall while Keller made it to the 6A D1 regional championship round.
The Ladycats took eight of the next nine points to close out the third set. Then Aledo dominated the fourth set to close out the match and start 1-0, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17.
“We tried to adjust on them defensively and I thought our serving was exceptional,” said Aledo coach Claire Gay. “Couple of misses in Set 1 that was a little dicey, but we ended up putting a lot of pressure on them. I thought we stepped up defensively and our setters were very good on defense. Going on the road, at their gym – it’s been a long time since we’ve come here and beat them so it was nice to see our girls respond after the first set, and to continue to battle.”
Aledo played well at the net all match long, and got it going in the opening set while holding most of the lead halfway through. Outside hitter Kaelee Berkley scored off two kills and a block, and Payton Patrick recorded a kill off the block as Aledo held on to an 11-9 lead.
Kendall Hill got a kill and block point for Keller as the Indians went ahead at 12-11.
Karsyn Trott’s block for Aledo tied the opening set at 14. The game was tied again at 20-20 and 21-21 before the Indians finished it off. Anna Flores got a kill on a free ball and Keller took a 1-0 lead. Flores is among the top 2026s in the country. The 6-foot-1 setter/outside is committed to Cal.
The two teams were tied at 15-15 in the second set.
Then Aledo scored 10 of the final 14 points – highlighted by Alyssa Todd’s kill on set point to even the match at a set apiece. Todd is committed to Abilene Christian and led the Ladycats with 557 kills a season ago.
Todd said about picking ACU, “I really fell in love with the girls and the coaches were super nice. The campus was amazing and I’m looking forward to it.”
Keller went on a mini run and led 12-6 in the third set. Aledo’s blocking started to heat up to help the Ladycats stay in the game. Todd’s kill and block combo got the Cats within 19-14. The Indians led by five again on Boatner’s kill.
Aledo pulled within 23-22 that led to a Keller timeout and the Ladycats returned to the court and scored the final three points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Aledo then led by as many as eight in the fourth set. Todd made a nice serve receive that led to the game-winning point by outside Lily Morris.
“Our serving was spectacular – hitting on that serving line and putting that pressure. We had a lapse in that set when they scored eight straight on us and we couldn’t get out of that rotation, but we started to chip away and our girls were resilient,” Gay said of the third set. “They don’t give up and they fight hard. Like I said, the serving was a huge momentum shift in that third set that allowed us to take it.”
