Weekend win a sign of progress for Lady Bucks

The Breckenridge High School volleyball team’s steady approach to improving seems to have paid off following Saturday’s four-set victory over Jim Ned.

The Lady Buckaroos bested the Lady Indians 25-19, 19-25, 25-21 and 25-21 in a best of five series that avenged a previous loss at the Lu Allen Classic in Graham.

“They made mistakes and I knew they would,” Breckenridge coach Jeana Yarbrough said. “We made a few mistakes on our side, which were just silly errors, but not as many. What I was proud of the most was serving.”

Serves may have been the turning point of Saturday’s match, considering Jim Ned seemed  to take control following the first set and held it until midway through the final set, when sophomore outside Madison Stanley caught fire with a block, a kill and two aces to put the Lady Bucks up 16-14. 

Senior outside hitter Maria Alvarado said the Lady Bucks simply  needed to calm down and evaluate their predicament. 

“We had to talk a little bit amongst ourselves and tell each other ‘It’s OK to make mistakes.’ We rejuvenated ourselves after that,” she said.

Alvarado said she could sense an immediate shift in momentum after that and eventually put up the game-winning serve after Jim Ned committed a two-hit violation on match point.

“It’s tough when you have to serve in those positions because you have to make sure do don’t miss anything,” Alvarado said. “I just had to keep my head in the game and make sure I serving it to the right spot.”

With the win, the Lady Buckaroos improved to 4-14 and will head on the road to face Sweetwater Tuesday, then host Saturday morning. First serve for Saturday’s match is set for 11 a.m.

For right now, the Lady Buckaroos will celebrate snapping what had become a lengthy losing streak.

“It’s just a breath of fresh air,” junior middle hitter Calista Lambert said. “It’s great for our confidence and we just need to keep it going.”