Sports

CP Volleyball loses in four to Hutto

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Cedar Park volleyball drew a tough opponent for its Wednesday home opener, as state-ranked Hutto came calling.

While the Lady Timberwolves put up a strong fight that lasted four games, star hitter Jessica O'Shoney and the Lady Hippos were too much in claiming a 25-11, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17 win.

Cedar Park (1-1) played Hutto close for most of all four games, but fell victim to decisive scoring runs in all three losing games.

“Hutto really challenged us tonight, and we just didn't play consistent enough in serve/receive,” said Rebekah Almanza. “But this was a good test for us. We played aggressive and did good things on the court.”

The opening game saw the Lady T'wolves having to quickly rally back, trailing 7-6 on a kill by Brigitte Richardson. Hutto, behind two kills and a block from O'Shoney, rattled off a 10-0 to grab control.

Hutto eventually opened a 23-9 edge, with Cedar Park getting no closer than 12 after that.

“It just seemed like we couldn't get anything positive going in that first game,” Almanza said.

Cedar Park showed no signs of a letdown in game two, riding the solid hitting of Sydney Adair to help knot the match at 1-1.

Adair, who finished with 14 kills and 14 digs, had seven kills in the second game off several nice sets by Courtney Johnson (23 assists, 8 digs, 5 aces). She twice had back-to-back kills in the game, including two late ones for a 22-20 lead.

“I was very impressed with how Sydney played,” Almanza said. “She had several great swings in each game.

“The big difference was that we played faster and with more confidence in that second game.”

Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Moritz (7 kills, 3.5 blocks) also played well in game two, with Johnson hitting an ace to put the team at game point. A serving error by Hutto provided the final point of the game.

In the third game, the Lady T'wolves led early thanks to two aces from Johnson and three kills by Adair. Moritz put down a block for a 9-6 lead, but the Lady Hippos came back to tie the game at 10-10.

A kill from Haelee Horne got Cedar Park back the lead, but Hutto scored 10 of the next 12 points to take control. Three kills from Adair, as well as a nice block from Sierra Null helped cut the deficit to 20-17, but Cedar Park got no closer.

In the final game, libero Chrissy Johnson (19 digs, 2 aces) had a kill and an ace while Moritz chipped in two kills and a block to keep the game close early. Cedar Park had several short leads, but could not stay close as Hutto used a late 10-2 run to decide the game.

Almanza praised the play of Amanda Muckle (7 digs) in the loss, while Delaney Forsythe and Samantha Overton added solid minutes off the bench.

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