Sachse senior outside hitter Raniya Temple (4), pictured in previous action, recorded a team-high 20 kills in Tuesday’s win over Naaman Forest. Photo by Elijah Kloepping / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Faced with the real possibility of having to play a fifth set Tuesday night, Sachse head volleyball coach Rikki Jones was hopeful that her Mustangs could find that “medium.”
Jones felt that her team’s energy level was either too high or too low during the third set and most of the fourth set, instead of in the middle. The inconsistency led to a slew of hitting errors, allowing Naaman Forest to nearly overcome a two-sets-to-zero deficit in the best-of-five match.
Senior outside hitter Raniya Temple made sure that the match didn’t need a fifth set.
Temple rallied Sachse from a 24-22 deficit to a 24-24 tie after she tipped the ball into a vacant area on Naaman Forest’s side of the court for a kill. It was the first of three consecutive kills by Temple, the last of which clinched a 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 19-25, 26-24) home win for the Lady Mustangs.
“We put ourselves in a bit of a pickle,” Jones said. “They did a good job of holding on.”
Those three kills punctuated a big night by Temple, who had a team-high 20 kills. Sachse (4-8 overall, 2-0 District 9-6A) also received good complementary play from junior middle blocker Ella Smith and sophomore outside hitter Fallin Whitmore, each of whom had 10 kills.
“Raniya has improved so much and has become a go-to player and so much more consistent,” Jones said. “She’s worked so hard to be able to do that. Her leadership has been amazing. She’s just doing such a great job. I’m so proud of her.”
Tuesday’s win provided a much-needed jolt of confidence for Sachse after the Lady Mustangs struggled to a 1-4 record the previous weekend at the Allen Texas Open.
Most of those struggles can be attributed to inexperience. The Lady Mustangs lost six key contributors from last season’s team to graduation. Most of that inexperience is on the front row, where the Lady Mustangs return just two varsity letter-winners: Smith and Temple.
“We’re learning a lot,” Jones said. “Tonight was a really good game for them, to feel that pressure and battle through it.”
Sachse came out the aggressor. Strong serving paced the Lady Mustangs to a dominant performance in the first set. Senior Shelby Siratt spotted back-to-back aces for a 7-1 Lady Mustangs lead. Smith and Temple hit the ball hard later in the set to keep Sachse well in front before Whitmore polished off the win with her fourth kill of the opening set.
A big reason why Sachse was able to turn in a dominant effort on offense was because of the efficiency of its back row in serve-receive. Siratt was a force as she recorded a team-high 19 digs, complemented by 14 digs and 20 assists from junior Laney George and 10 digs by senior Kennedy Colwell.
Naaman Forest dug out more of Sachse’s hitting attempts in the second and third sets and was later on the brink of forcing a fifth set. Freshman outside hitter Ki’mya Thomas recorded a kill to put the Rangers in front 24-22 in the fourth set. However, the Lady Mustangs didn’t fold to the pressure. Temple had three consecutive kills as Sachse finished off Naaman Forest in four sets.
“I thought that their energy in the second game was kind of lackluster,” Jones said. “I talked to them about their energy. It was low. It got us beat. Low energy and lack of focus turn into errors. They did a much better job of getting their energy level up.”
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