In what's essentially championship week for Kerrville Tivy, the Antlers passed a big road test on Tuesday with a 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-10 victory against Davenport in a matchup of state-ranked teams.
The Antlers (25-14), ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, earned a District 27-4A sweep against No. 5 Davenport (29-10). Tivy also prevailed in five sets against the Wolves on Sept. 25. The Antlers moved to 3-0 against Davenport this season, which includes a two-set tournament win.
That sets up a showdown for first place on Friday when Wimberley comes to town.
Tivy senior setter Rylie Coates had career-best 52 assists to go with 12 digs, six kills, two aces and two blocks. Senior Karlynn Way led the team with 15 kills. Senior Danica Blaker and senior Jilian Stebbins each had 12 kills. Senior Lily Gonzalez had 10 kills.
The Antlers frustrated the Wolves by keeping the ball in play and buying extra chances to get points. Brooke Bailey led the Antlers with 19 digs, followed by Rylan Adams (14), Lauren Holland (13) and Blaker (11).
"It's great when our back row can get the crazy balls up, and it just helps us a lot because we can run our offense and get good plays off our defense," Way said.
That fits exactly what they've done this season. Entering Tuesday's match, the Antlers had five players with between 189 to 293 digs.
"We work defense all the time in practice," Blaker said. "We have a ton of different things that we work on, like our positioning. It's definitely something we kill and drill."
That means more opportunities for Coates to set the ball. She had 1,061 assists entering the match, which was ranked No. 8 in the state. She has now reached 50 assists three times this season.
"She's definitely a big team leader on the court," Way said. "She is very good at rotating the ball and giving all our hitters a chance to hit the ball."
Entering Tuesday there was a three-way tie for first place in district with Tivy, Davenport and No. 6 Wimberley at 5-1. Tivy is now tied with Wimberley for first at 6-1 following the Texans' sweep of Fredericksburg on Tuesday. The Antlers host Wimberley (38-4) on Friday.
In district play, the Antlers are thriving with an experienced team (12 seniors) that moved from Class 5A to 4A this season. Coates said that factors into the hustle they show on defense.
"We understand that these are some of our last games together," Coates said. "Since we've been playing with each other since sixth grade, everything matters so much to us. Not just from a volleyball standpoint, but from a family standpoint. Every extended rally just means so much more."
Tivy took control of the first set with a 9-1 run, mostly behind the serving of Brooke Bailey, to grab a 17-11 lead. The Antlers kept a comfortable cushion of the rest of the set.
Davenport took a 2-1 lead in sets by holding off strong Tivy runs. In the second set, the Wolves led 18-13 before the Antlers tied it at 19 and then at 23. Davenport locked it up with a kill by junior McKenzie Myers and an ace by junior Kylie Dahl that landed uncontested in the far left corner.
In the third set, the Wolves erased a 12-6 deficit before taking a 21-15 lead. Tivy cut it to 22-20 following a kill by Way, but the Wolves secured it with kills by Myers and Aliyah Beauford.
Tivy evened it thanks to a fast start in the fourth set, jumping to a 6-1 lead after back-to-back aces from Gonzalez. Davenport cut it to 10-8 with a Myers kill, but the Antlers responded with an 11-3 run.
The fifth set was tight early until the Antlers pulled away with a 6-1 run to end it.
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There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Strong defense helps Kerrville Tivy outlast Davenport in thrilling five-set win.