There were early indicators that the Beckville Ladycats were a different type of volleyball team. During their entire warm-up session before last Saturday’s area playoff match-up against the Lady Panthers of Alba-Golden, the combined Ladycat team mis-hit exactly two practice shots. Two. 

That was a good hint of the type of volleyball they play. Beckville committed a total of 13 errors (mis-hits, service errors, net or boundary violations) in the whole three-set match. They ended the Lady Panthers second season by defeating Alba-Golden 25-15, 25-13, 25-2.

One got the sense watching the Ladycats that they could have jump-started and focused their offense from a number of different points. Against Alba-Golden they used junior Avery Morris, largely attacking from the offensive left wing. Once the Panthers began to counter Morris’ attacks, Beckville mixed in a variety of kill shot alterations and whistled M.J. Liles off the right wing or Kinsley Rivers from the middle. 

The Lady Panthers did not intend on rolling over against the highly-ranked Ladycats. Alba-Golden came out playing textbook volleyball. They established early leads in sets one and two. In the first set, it was excellent activity from Kaylee Anglin, Kalli Trimble, Kamrin Wright and Cacie Lennon which set the pace. An emphatic kill by Trimble followed immediately by a sizzling spike from Anglin started set two. 

In each case however, Beckville used a long run of six unanswered points to separate themselves from the Lady Panthers. Despite aggressive play, Alba-Golden could not close the gap after the initial Beckville rallies.

After playing some of their best volleyball of the year – and still falling in the first two sets by a considerable margin – the Lady Panthers season effectively ended.

Senior Kaylee Anglin put in an amazing effort and led the Lady Panthers with seven kills. Trimble also had a stellar game and has emerged as a mainstay of the team as the season matured. Of note, sophomore Hailey Crutchfield saw her first varsity action of the year and acquitted herself very well.  

In each of the last two seasons, Alba-Golden volleyball has produced a bidistrict playoff win. Continuing the tradition should be a great challenge and a lot of fun in the coming year.