Taylor High School varsity volleyball started off its 2023 season on a high note as the Lady Ducks cruised to a match victory on Aug. 8 in three straight sets at home vs. Lampasas High School.
First-year head coach Rylee Davis picked up her first career victory at Taylor’s helm and the Lady Ducks looked dominant for much of the night against the Lady Badgers.
The first set started off with a lot of backand- forth action but once the Lady Ducks got settled in they began to take control. Taylor senior Hannah Wamble, who is committed to continuing her academic and collegiate volleyball career at Concordia University in Austin, sparked the Lady Ducks in the first set. Along with junior teammate Haley Harms, the duo had multiple timely kills that helped the Lady Ducks pull away and keep Lampasas at bay.
Lady Ducks sophomore Peyton Wamble had back-to-back aces at the end of the set and Harms finished with a kill as Taylor took the first set 25-15.
For the majority of the second set, the Lady Ducks were in complete control and had great team chemistry. There were a few lengthy rallies by both teams in this match but Taylor made sure to get the points and maintain their momentum throughout.
After timely kills by junior Katelyn Aderhold and Hannah Wamble, mistakes by the opposing Lady Badgers really started to mount up as Taylor sophomore Makenna Watson served up four consecutive aces during a stretch of the second set. Although the Lady Ducks led in the second set by as much as 14 points with a 19-5 margin, Lampasas mounted a rally to get to within 23-14 but Taylor dug its heels in to win the second set 25-15.
The third and final set of the night was quite a grind between Taylor and Lampasas.
The Lady Ducks got off to a sluggish start in the third set down 0-4 and Davis immediately called timeout to regroup her players.
The timeout certainly worked as the Lady Ducks promptly scored eight points in a row to take an 8-4 lead that was led by multiple kills and an ace by Hannah Wamble. This set saw neither the Lady Ducks nor Lady Badgers get more than a few points ahead of each other as Lampasas wanted to stay alive and force a fourth set on the road. However, the Lady Ducks got kills from Harms, Hannah Wamble and Aderhold to go up 21-19 during a crucial point of the third set.
Following a clutch kill at the net from senior Camryn Nunamaker to put Taylor up 22-20, Hannah Wamble did the rest as she eventually ended the match with an emphatic kill with the Lady Ducks winning the third set 25-23.
The Lady Ducks will wrap up play at this weekend’s varsity tournament in Georgetown and then hit the road at 6 p.m. on Aug. 15 for a nondistrict matchup against Rogers High School.
