Lady Tigers wrap up non-district play

The Wills Point Lady Tigers will enter tonight's (Sept. 21) district opener on a high note, wrapping up non-district play earlier this week with a three-set sweep of the visiting Rains Lady Cats Sept. 18.

Wills Point and Rains had been familiar foes during previous seasons, competing against one another during district play in each of the past two seasons. The Lady Cats came away victorious in every meeting en route to back-to-back district championships.

Redistricting pushed Rains down to the 3A classification for each of the next two seasons, separating the programs from competing against one another in district play.

Wills Point would go on to exact a measure of revenge on the Lady Cats Tuesday night, dominating play from the first serve en route to a 25-12, 25-22, 25-23 win.

Melanie Sullivan helped to lead the offensive attack for Wills Point, finishing with a team best 10 kills. Olivia McMath added six, Janson Sharp four, Megan Wadsworth two, and Dawn Smith, Taylor McCullough and Jeslyn Martinez with one each.

Leading servers were Melanie Sullivan with three aces, and Olivia McMath and Kalyn Dryman with two each.

Jeslyn Martinez led the way defensively with a team-best 36 digs, followed by Kalyn Dryman with eight, Addison Prather with seven, Megan Wadsworth with six, Olivia McMath with five, Melanie Sullivan with four, Hope Turner and Harleigh Prather with three each, Janson Sharp with two and Taylor McCullough with one.

Hope Turner finished as Wills Point's top ball handler in the match posting 23 of the team's 25 assists against the Lady Cats.

Wills Point, ranked 11th overall among all 4A teams in the state according to the most recent Texas Girls Coaches Association Weekly Poll, will take on 10th ranked Van tonight beginning at 4:30 p.m. The Tigers and Lady Vandals met most recently Oct. 17. During that matchup, Wills Point mounted a furious comeback to stun the Lady Vandals 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-7.

Other upcoming district matches for Wills Point will include a home date against Athens Sept. 25 and a road trip to Mabank Sept. 28.

Lady Tigers 1

Photo by David Kapitan

Junior Kalyn Dryman added two aces to her season total during Wills Point’s three-set sweep over the visiting Rains Lady Cats.

Lady Tigers 2

Photo by David Kapitan

Wills Point will open District 14-4A play with back-to-back home dates, hosting the Van Lady Vandals Sept. 21 and Athens Sept. 25.