Lindale tops Van in 5 games

Published 1:04 am Wednesday, September 18, 2013

By Shane Stark

VAN — Though a non-district matchup, Lindale and Van approached Tuesday’s showdown like a league title was on the line.

In the past, district crowns were given to the winner between the schools in numerous sports.

“We just wanted to win because it was Van and that’s been a rival of ours for a long time,” said Lady Eagles senior Zhanelle Geathers, regarding the longtime rivalry between the schools. “We didn’t plan on losing.”

With strong defense at the net and an emphatic finish, Lindale beat the Lady Vandals 3-2 in a back-and-forth volleyball match Tuesday night at the VHS gymnasium. The final score was 25-22, 15-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-4.

“I think we really wanted to come out and win tonight,” Lady Eagles coach Meghan Renicker said. “Van’s a good team and we just really came out wanting to fight and win tonight.”



With the victory, Lindale improved to 24-3 on the season, with District 16-4A action scheduled to begin next week. Van, 3A’s second-ranked squad by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, fell to 22-6.

Lindale overcame a Game 4 loss in dominant fashion, beginning the fifth-and-final game with a thunderous kill by Rhyan Rand. And just after the Lady Vandals tied things at 2-2 three points later, the Lady Eagles got multiple blocks for points to score eight unanswered and take control at 10-2. Rand supplied match point on her third kill of the game.

“I just think we kind of ran out of gas,” Lady Vandals coach Kristen Reaves said. “We played four really great (games). The last four (games) were the best they’ve played against a strong team. And so in that last (game), we just kind of ran out of gas.”

Geathers, on a night that featured a near double-digits blocks performance, finished with 15 kills. Sydney Tiiman supplied 24 assists.

Van’s Briann Thompson finished with 11 kills while Rebekah Rogers and Hallee Carter added 10 kills each. Morgan Wilkerson had 22 assists.

Lindale’s defense proved to be the biggest difference.

“We’re working on getting better at our defense,” Renicker said. “I think we’re slowly improving. That’s something we’ve got to work on and get better before district gets here, which is next week.”