Lady Yoe off to slow start in 20-3A

For a good portion of the teams in this area, Friday meant that there was much more emphasis placed on winning matches. That was the starting point for a lot of districts, including 20-3A, home of the Lady Yoe. Cameron had a rough start to their opening slate of games with both Rogers and Franklin on the road. Both teams were in the playoffs last season and Cameron did not have much luck in those matches.

Rogers

After losing to Rogers in five sets earlier this season season, Cameron would have another shot at the Lady Eagles to open up district. Things did not go as well this go around, as Rogers was sharp in a 11-25, 11-25, 15-25 sweep.

Carley Tucker, Gracen Dach and Zenzie Wimmer each had two kills in the match for Cameron.  

Franklin

Cameron played a much more competitive second match, but fell to the Franklin Lady Lions on the road Tuesday, 29-27, 25-27, 11-25 and 21-25.

The opening set was evenly played throughout the early going as we were tied at 15. Franklin did proceed to go on a 4-0 run to go up 19-15, but Cameron made it back to 19-19 and eventually had a 24-21 advantage.

At 27 all, Tucker put things into her own hands. The junior first placed a kill in the middle of the court and then followed that up with a set-clinching ace from the service line. It was important way for Cameron to start the match.

“Anytime you’re on the road and playing at someone else’s house, it’s always important to compete because of the fans and all of that,” said Lady Yoe head coach Kamol Nohe. “I thought they did a great job and we threw Franklin off-guard by how we played on defense.”

The momentum seemed to carry over into the second, as Cameron jumped out to a big 12-4 lead. Denio started the match with 3 aces while taking advantage of multiple Lady Lion miscues.

Franklin brought it back to 13-10 before Denio was back on serve to build the lead up to 17-11. However, the Lady Lions once again fought back and rallied to take the set. That seemed to stall all momentum that Cameron had built in the early moments.

“We went back to our old mentality, and that is what we are trying to break,” said Nohe. “We have to fight for every point.”

The fourth set was much more competitive. Wimmer spiked home a kill, which was followed up  

by a Franklin attack error to bring Cameron within one at 21-20. That would be the closest it would get as the Lady Lions ended things in four.

“Even though we lost, the kids know we are capable of competing and winning against this type of competition,” said Nohe. “There are certain things that are costing us, but it is not one particular person. We just have to clean up some things.”

20-3A District Results/Standings

Tuesday Results: Franklin 3, Cameron Yoe 1; Academy 3, Rockdale 1; Rogers 3, Lexington 0; Jarrell 3, Hearne 0.

Standings: 1. Rogers (2-0), 1. Academy (2-0); 3. Lexington (1-1), 3. Franklin (1-1), 3. Rockdale (1-1), 3. Jarrell (1-1), 7. Cameron Yoe (0-2), 7. Hearne (0-2).

Cameron will play their first home district matches of the year with Hearne coming to town on Friday and Jarrell traveling to Yoe Gym on Tuesday. Both games are expected to start at 4:30 with the varsity to follow.