Up 10-9 looking to make a run late in the fifth set, varsity volleyball called a timeout. Sydney Yohe came out of the huddle with a kill, giving the Lady Chaps an 11-9 lead. Soon after, the senior sealed the Bi-District Championship for the Chaps.
The Lady Chaps (29-15) closed out the Round Rock Lady Dragons (38-8) in five sets (20-25, 25-16, 26-24, 20-25, 15-11). They then carried that momentum into the next week, defeating Brennan (29-14) in three sets.
The Lady Chaps split the first two sets with Round Rock, heading into a pivotal third set. Yohe and senior outside Chloe Kelly took over with multiple kills in the set, giving Westlake a crucial lead.
Following a close loss in the fourth set, the Lady Chaps headed into a do-or-die fifth set with their season on the line.
Sophomore outside Heidi Brew helped the Chaps start with three straight points while adding a kill herself.
“I knew that this was a big game. It’s the playoffs, and I really was thinking, just play for all the seniors who are on the team.” Brew said.
Leading 8-4, Byers-Veal had a stuff block to force a timeout by the Round Rock Dragons. The Lady Chaps sealed the deal following their timeout with a 5-2 run to close it out. Yohe sealed the game with a kill to take the bi-district championship, and the Chaps faced Brennan November 3rd.
3 days later against Brennan, the Chaps dominated the first set 25-22. Taking an early five point lead, Yohe had a stuff block met with immediate celebration by her teammates, putting them up 10-5.
“You have to be really intentional with working on blocking,” Yohe said. “Just knowing where to be and reading angles more.”
After a successful first set, the Chaps blazed ahead to take the lead at a score of 16-11, with two blocks by Byers-Veal and two great digs by McWilliams.
“I thought that we were picking up all the tips really well. We weren’t letting them win that type of game,” McWilliams said. “We’re just going to continue trying to keep up our serve receive, because that’s always a main focus, and I think that will really help us down the line.”
The third and final set began with the strongest Chap presence so far with a seven point lead at a score of 17-10, followed by a Brennan time-out. Clayton Kelly won a strong joust at the net, putting the Chaps up 18-10.
“I just really excelled in my blocking, and I feel like it just kind of, fired me up and gave me a lot of confidence,” Kelly said. “We worked a lot on focusing on really stopping them in practice and film, and I feel like we just really did a good job accomplishing that.”
The Chaps swept Brennan for the Area Championship and will move on to the Regional Semifinals Friday against Steele in Wimberley.
