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Maybe the biggest advantage Bellaire’s volleyball team had late in its five-set win Friday night was complete beyond their control.
The Cardinals, eight-time defending district champions in Houston ISD but still getting to know each other on the court, played only one game before their visit to Spring Woods. The Tigers, meanwhile, had three earlier Friday alone because of their involvement in the Katy ISD tournament.
The wear and tear was markedly evident late, and the meshing Cardinals took advantage to escape with a 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 15-7 road victory.
Bellaire sprinted to an 8-2 lead in the fifth. Saenger recorded two huge kills to make it 10-5, and Spring Woods didn’t get any closer.
“I hope we can play a lot more of the season (with runs) like that,” Cardinals senior middle hitter Jessica Addicks said. “We took a lot of momentum into that fifth game. Our momentum was going like crazy; we kept getting more and more kills and we fed off that and had confidence in ourselves.
“We just came out and took it to them.”
Addicks had seven kills to pace the Cardinals, who lost their season-opener Tuesday to Fort Bend Austin. Senior Oni Lattin was dynamite in the first set but didn’t play much afterwards; the rest of the slack was picked up in the front by, among others, senior outside hitter Hannah Jones and sophomore outside Christina Saenger.
“Jessica’s our go-to hitter,” said Bellaire coach Ap Clarke, who also mentioned Saenger among others. “(Saenger) is trying to find the floor right now (and) get in sync with her teammates.”
Maddie Zerbe had 11 kills and Sara Reid 10 to pace the Tigers (3-5), who tied the game three times in the fourth set but couldn’t take the lead.
“They were getting tired and we were able to take advantage,” Clarke said. “We were able to tell their legs were going.”
The Tigers were resilient the entire night up to that point, answering a 7-0 Cardinals run late in the first set with a 8-2 run to close and sealing the third set with a 7-2 burst.
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