Nixon-Smiley falls against tough Schulenburg squad

NIXON — Nixon-Smiley’s height disadvantage showed up Tuesday in their three-set loss to Schulenburg (25-12, 25-10, 25-6). The visiting Lady Horns were able to strike on balls hit close to the net, which didn’t allow much room for error from the Lady Mustangs. As balls from serve receives made it over the net, the front attackers from Schulenburg immediately hit it right back, scoring in kills throughout the game.

“When we serve receive, we got to keep it on our side,” Mustangs head coach Tara Wyrwich said. “If we put it right at the net they’re going to put it right down our throats.”

Despite the tough outing, Wyrwich believes the adjustments she made to the lineup will work out for the Lady Mustangs.

“Right now we’re working through adversity,” she said. “I made an adjustment to the lineup today. We’re working through adversity and they are working with a lineup that they never worked through. Overall, our girls trying to hit, I think if we just get the ball to our setter, we’d be all right.”

Faith Pullin led the team in kills with six, while Katy Tschoepe was right behind with five. Maggie Mendez came away with two. Courtney Lopez handled the assists, ending the night with eight while Kiara Andrada and Lilliana Jenks had one each.

Having to work with the new lineup, Wyrwich did notice her athletes picking up digs more frequently. With a team like Schulenburg who has height and strong hits, the Lady Mustangs were still able to pick up 21 digs, with Mendez leading the way with seven. Lopez and Tschoepe had four each while Pullin had three.

“We picked up a lot more digs,” Wyrwich said. “Those girls were hitting at us. If we get used to this lineup, we’re picking up balls all over the place today.”

“I think overall we’re going to be all right,” she continued, “but we’re going to keep working on this lineup and get stronger as a team. They work well as a team. I’m proud of them for that. It’s taken a while to teach what it means to stay excited, be competitive, know that they can compete and that they can win and believe in themselves and each other and team work comes a long way. They’re starting to believe. Hopefully we can get this winning tradition back in volleyball.”

Nixon-Smiley drops to 0-2 in District 27-3A. They take on Hallettsville (1-1) on the road, with varsity set to play at 5 p.m.