By STEPHEN MONAHAN, Sports Editor
Gainesville Daily Register
Gainesville —
The Gainesville Lady Leopards just couldn't put the Bonham Lady Warriors away.
Holding a two-game lead and needing just one win to take the match, the Lady Leopards dropped the next three games to fall 25-15, 27-25, 22-25, 23-25, 7-15.
Gainesville (5-9) fell just short of matching their total wins from all of last season, but despite rallying from behind to win Game 2 27-25 and a strong performance by Baylee Mims, the Lady Leopards were thwarted thanks to a strong defensive performance by Bonham, which rarely led Gainesville put together many long scoring runs.
In Game 2 however, Bonham let 19-15, but allowed Gainesville to run off the next five points behind the serve of Marisol Chavez, giving the Lady Leopards a 20-19 lead.
The Lady Warriors took a 24-22 for game point, but a kill by Megan Carroll and a hitting error by Bonham tied the game at 24-24.
Gainesville trailed 25-24, but two kills by Mims, including the game point, gave the Lady Leopards the win.
"I was so proud of the girls for fighting back in Game 2," Gainesville coach Karla Henegar said. "It was some of the best points we have played."
The Lady Leopards were just three points away from winning the match at 22-19, but Bonham rattled off the next six points for the Game 3 win.
Both teams traded points for most of Game 4 before Bonham pulled away late.
"We have been focusing on not giving up," Henegar said. "They are better players than they give themselves credit for."
Mims paved the way for Gainesville with 22 kills, 22 digs and three blocks.
Carroll, who seemingly improves match to match, added six kills, seven blocks and an ace.
"She's has been working hard on blocking in practice," Henegar said, "and it is paying off."
Chavez, who recently moved up from junior varsity to be the team's setter, finished with 26 assists, one kill and an ace while Taylor Murphy added 12 digs.
Also contributing for Gainesville were Zhanice Lane with two kills, two blocks and five digs, Skye Ferch who had one kill, three blocks and six digs, Shelley Reynolds had five kills, two aces and six digs and Paola Vazquez added six kills, four blocks, five digs and an ace.
In sub-varsity action, the junior varsity white team improved to 11-3 on the season Friday after defeating Bonham while the JV red team also won 25-15, 25-13 against the Lady Warriors.
The Lady Leopards closed out the Whitesboro Tournament Saturday.
