Lady Bears awaiting New Caney

[KFDM COOP]

Lady Bears awaiting New Caney

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville know who their first-round playoff opponent will be in the Class 4A Region III volleyball playoffs while the Bridge City Lady Cardinals and Orangefield Lady Bobcats are still jockeying for playoff positioning out of District 21-3A.

The Lady Bears (20-14, 10-4)snagged their second consecutive 20-win season and clinched the second-place playoff spot out of District 22-4A by hammering the Vidor Lady Pirates 25-18, 25-10, 25-20 at the Bear Cave Friday night. LC-M was tied with Beaumont Ozen (23-9, 9-5) for second going into Friday’s battles but the Lady Panthers, the third-place team, fell to crosstown rival Beaumont Central in five games.

The Lady Bears will take on District 21-3A third-place unit New Caney in the bidistrict round of the playoffs this week on either Thursday or Saturday at a site yet to be determined.

New Caney finished behind Barbers Hill and Crosby in 21-4A.

“The kids are excited,†said Castino. “Our district was so darn tough this year and to come out of it in second place was quite an accomplishment.â€

The Lady Bears closed out the season with four straight victories in a rugged 22-4A, including two grueling five-game match wins against both Nederland and Lumberton.

“The kids have really played well the last couple weeks,†said Castino. “It’s the perfect time of the year for everything to come together.â€

The Lady Bears are led by senior captain Morgan Blohm, senior Jordyn Davis and sophomore Christine Sicktich at the net. LC-M has also received solid play from setters Shayna Sheppard and Carly Gauthier and has also received excellent play from the likes of Kristi Trahan and Maci Wilcox down the stretch.

“It’s always a good feeling to make the playoffs,†Castino said. “New Caney plays in a pretty tough district so it isn’t going to be easy. Anything can happen in the playoffs.â€

The winner of the LC-M-New Caney encounter will take on District 23-4A champion Friendswood in the second round. Friendswood advanced to the 4A State Tournament last season.

District 22-4A champion Port Neches-Groves (23-8, 14-0) will have a first-round bye in the playoffs while Ozen will take on either Barbers Hill or Crosby.

District 21-3A remains a crapshoot.

The Bridge City Lady Cardinals (19-13, 12-1) remain in a first-place tie with the Silsbee Lady Tigers (20-10, 12-1) and the Orangefield Lady Bobcats (15-15, 8-5) are tied with the Hamshire-Fannett Lady Longhorns for third-place with one regular season match remaining for the teams on Tuesday.

The Lady Cardinals edged the Lady Bobcats in a thrilling 23-25, 25-6, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12 at Cardinal Gym on Friday.

The Lady Cardinals will host last-place West Orange-Stark, which has yet to win a 21-3A match, Tuesday while the Lady Bobcats welcome Hardin-Jefferson.

According to Bridge City coach Becca Mathews, if the Lady Cardinals and SIlsbee finish tied for first, they will likely play for the 21-3A championship Thursday or Saturday rather than flipping a coin. If Orangefield and H-F remained tied after Tuesday night, they will have to have a one-game playoff to decide third.

[Lightning/Eagle]

New Caney and LCM will match up at 3:00 Saturday in Barbers Hill.