Volleyball: Pecos sweeps past Seminole in 3A playoff showdown

MIDLAND Trying to get a kill down against a good defense can be rough.

Putting a kill through the Pecos defense can be downright frustrating. Especially on a night when the offense just isn’t clicking.

Led by a defense that picked up attack after attack, the Lady Eagles swept Seminole 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 in a Class 3A bi-district match at Midland Christian on Tuesday night to set up an area playoff match against Dalhart.

“Defense can win ballgames, especially against teams that have huge hitters,” Pecos head coach Jennifer Hill said. “When you keep getting dug, it gets irritating.”

Early in the season, Pecos (20-12) dropped a four-set match to the Maidens.

But that edition of the Lady Eagles bears very little resemblance to the team Seminole (22-18) faced Tuesday night.

Right from the start, Pecos put the pressure on a taller Maidens lineup by digging balls that normally get Seminole points.

The Maidens’ attack never found a rhythm. By the time the match ended, Seminole had committed 31 hitting errors.

“We could never get in synch because our hitters were going long all night,” Maidens coach Jacqueline Horton said. “We started hitting a certain area in the court, and as soon as we did, Pecos adjusted and the block came into play.”

Towards the end of the first set, Seminole closed the gap to 19-17, but a pair of blocks by Emily Rodriquez closed out the set to give Pecos a 25-19 start.

Rodriquez’s blocking ability shut down the middle of the court for the Seminole attack, forcing the Maidens to try to hit from the outside.

And Seminole outside hitter Giselle Loya found some success, pounding the Pecos defense for 19 kills.

“She’s got an amazing vertical, and she’s strong,” Rodriquez said. “And she can hit back row attacks, so that makes it pretty hard.”

For all of the problems Pecos had stopping Loya, the Lady Eagles kept the rest of the Seminole attack in check.

None of the Maidens’ hitters turned in more than four kills.

“We weren’t really ready to play,” Seminole outside hitter Kelsey Hughes said. “We weren’t getting back for our approaches, or we were trying to cut the ball too hard.”

Desperately needing a victory after dropping the second set 25-23, Seminole fought to a 9-9 tie in the third set.

But Pecos kept picking up the Maidens’ attacks, and a couple of kills by Allyson Salcido — who finished with a team-high nine kills and 17 digs — got the Lady Eagles’ momentum rolling for a dominant 25-15 third set to send Pecos to the next round.

“The adrenaline really got us going,” Salcido said. “It’s not the size that matters, it’s the heart.”

Playing solid defense certainly doesn’t hurt, either.