Lady Yoe competitive in loss to 6A Harker Heights

The Cameron Lady Yoe hosted what appeared to be one of their most difficult non-district matchups of the year on Tuesday with Harker Heights traveling to Yoe Gym. Heights is a 6A school with over 2,500 students, so that in itself is always a challenge for a school with five times less kids to pick from.

That did not stop the Lady Yoe from competing, and competing with an edge. Cameron lost Tuesday’s match in four games, 23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 22-25, but each set was decided by three points or less.

“We knew how athletic, quick and fast they were,” said Lady Yoe head coach Kamol Nohe. “But, we just had to play within ourselves like we practice. We just have to play the game and learn to compete. When there is a negative, we learn to compete after that. Even when we are 5 or 6 points behind, we are fighting ourselves through and that is exciting.”

Down 23-17 late in the fourth, it could have been easy to lay down and move on. Cameron continued to battle, closing on a 6-2 run. That included a Carley Tucker kill and several hustle plays to keep the match alive.

“It really shows the character with the team,” said Nohe. “Yes, they are giants and we are one of these small schools, but we can compete. I was really proud of them.”

Cameron trailed 3-0 to open the first, but eventually went up 18-13 and then 21-17 after a Lauryn Leftwich tap fell in-between Heights defenders. Things eventually sat at 23-23 before a pair of kills by the Lady Knights front line put things away.

The second set had a similar vibe as things sat at 22 all late. Tucker sent over a pair of back-to-back kills to put Cameron up 24-23, and then an attacking error tied up the match at one set apiece.

In the third, the Lady Yoe trailed 23-17 before rebounding at 23-22. An attacking error followed by a perfectly placed kill attempt let Heights sneak out of the third with a 2-1 lead.

Wins are what every team continues to strive for, but for Nohe and his players improvement is still the main goal - day to day and week to week.

“That is the biggest thing,” said Nohe. “Every team that has seen us has commented on how improved were are. Even the referees. We are getting up there and we need to get over that hump.”

Tucker finished with a team-high 8 kills ad 22 digs. Kenzie Wimmer was not far behind with 6 kills. Darci Denio had 62 sets and 2 aces on the evening.

Robinson Tournament

This past weekend, Cameron found some success in the Robinson tournament, finishing with a 3-3 overall mark and silver bracket consolation championship.

On day one in pool play, Cameron had three tight matches, losing two to Huntington (20-25, 25-21, 29-30) and China Spring (21-25, 24-26) while picking up one win over Longview Spring Hill (25-21, 22-25, 25-15).

In bracket play on Saturday, the ladies opened with a tough loss to Reicher (12-25, 19-25) before picking up wins over Abbott (25-17, 25-12) and Connally (25-21, 25-22). In the finale, Tucker had 8 kills, Denios had 54 sets, Kenzie Wimmer came in with 12 digs, and Gracen Dach and Denio each had 7 aces.

Closing out non-district

Cameron will have another regular season non-district match on the road Friday at McGregor. The ladies will also be on the road at Marlin on Tuesday before playing in their final tournament of the year at Salado that weekend.