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Lady Ducks win again By Jerrad Lindenmuth Taylor bests Navasota, improves to 5-0 in District 24-3A The Taylor Lady Ducks cruised to a 25-13, 25-12, 25-12 victory over the Navasota Lady Rattlers Tuesday at Taylor High School. Taylor led the entire game except for a 1-0 deficit at the beginning of the third game. Despite the high margin of victory, Taylor coach Holly Turnbough thinks her team is capable of more. “I don’t think we played the way that we can. That’s a definite,” Turnbough said. “Just simple little things like our transitions off the net, getting ready to play defense on the tips, the communication on free balls and some hitting errors that certainly weren’t necessary.” The tone of the match was set early when Taylor scored the first six points of the first game, including two aces by Shelby Johnson. Johnson finished the game with four aces, good enough for the team lead. The Lady Rattlers were able to cut the lead to four but hitting errors by the visitors prevented any serious comeback attempt. Carla Hoffman and Kelsey Marek teamed up for a game-ending block. Strong serving from Holly Frazier, including one ace, helped the Lady Ducks build a 8-2 lead early in the second game. Navasota’s Shay Moore took advantage of some fallen Taylor defenders to slam in a kill to cut the lead to 10-6, but once again four points was as close as the Lady Rattlers were getting. A string of kills from Hoffman, Marek and Johnson fueled a 9-1 Taylor run. A hitting error by the Lady Rattlers’ Megan Calhoun ended the second game, giving the Lady Ducks a 13 point win. After Navasota had a brief taste of a lead by scoring the first point of game three, Taylor took the next seven points on five Lady Rattlers hitting errors and two kills by Marek. As in the two previous games, a Navasota comeback fell short and was met with an even greater Lady Ducks’ run of points. An ace by Destiny Dickson of Navasota and a hitting error by Marek cut the Taylor lead to three, 7-4, before the Lady Ducks won the next five points, including kills by Marek and Stephanie Zachary and, once again, numerous Lady Rattlers hitting errors. A pair of kills by Moore offered hope for Navasota but Taylor’s defense was able to win the serve right back. Katie Yanez contributed two kills during the final Lady Ducks’ rally of the night, and Johnson and Marek also put points on Taylor’s side of the board. The Lady Rattlers regained the serve down 24-12, but one final hitting error put the final nail in the coffin. The win was Taylor’s fifth straight District 24-3A victory to start the season. Since a third game loss in the district opener against Caldwell, the Lady Ducks have won 13 straight games. With the second swing around the district coming up, Turnbough said her team has to stay sharp and not allow complacency to set in. “We have to remain focused because even though we’ve taken care of the first round, the second one won’t be easy,” Turnbough said. “Some of the toughest games are out of town. Caldwell is going to be extremely tough. Madisonville in Madisonville will be tough. “It’s certainly not a gimme even at this point.” Taylor finishes the first half of its district season Friday evening at home against Cameron Yoe. The JV game begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by the varsity and the freshman games.
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