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First time for everything: Lone Star earns first-ever victory against Celina
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO – A pair of losses were all Lone Star came away with during its previous two meetings against Celina.
The Lady Rangers turned the tables Tuesday night, earning a four-set home victory (25-16, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22) to move above .500 to 2-1 in district play.
"I was very pleased with how my girls played," said Kelly Carl, Lone Star head coach. "This was our first-ever victory over Celina."
The Lady Rangers continued that momentum for the remainder of the set and eventually led, 15-9, behind the consistent hitting of senior Lauren Gastiaburo and junior Alexis Garner.
"[Garner] was money for us tonight," Carl said.
With the bulk of Garner's nine kills coming in the opening set, the Lady Rangers ultimately prevailed for a 25-16 victory to grab a 1-0 lead at home.
The second set began much like the first and Celina took five of the first six points for a commanding lead in the early going.
Staying true to the theme of the night, Lone Star began to claw its way back into the set and evened the score at 18-18.
"We weren't able to finish games," said Billy Coleman, Celina head coach. "We just didn't play good enough to win.”
Both teams would trade points until the set was knotted at 22-22. That's when the Lady Rangers made their push and scored three consecutive points to put the set away for a 2-0 lead.
"Finishing games has been a problem for us all year," Coleman said.
With the 2-0 lead, Lone Star was looking for a sweep after taking a 4-1 advantage in the third set. Celina gave the home team a dose of its own medicine though and earned 10 of the next 17 points to even the score.
With neither team pulling away late in the set, Celina junior Bailee Moore put her team a point away from taking the set with one of her nine kills, giving the Lady Bobcats a 24-23 lead.
Lone Star senior Julia Richards then came through with one of her team-high 10 kills to negate Moore's hit.
Moore eventually got the best of the duel, smashing a set from Alexis Elizondo to give Celina a 26-24 victory in the third frame.
"We've got some girls that can hit the ball," Coleman said.
The Lady Rangers didn't let the third set linger and built a 5-1 lead to start the fourth.
Although Celina would eventually trim the lead to two points late in the set, Garner put the game away with a match-ending kill that gave Lone Star a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
Elizondo led all players in the game with 11 kills, as sophomore K.J. Stastny added nine and Callie Hawkins tallied seven of her own. Elizondo and Moore also finished with three aces apiece, as Lone Star senior Ashley Forbus ended her night with a game-high five aces and Gastiaburo chipped in four of her own.
The loss dropped the Lady Bobcats to 20-13 on the season and 2-2 against 10-3A counterparts.
"We still control our own destiny," Coleman said. "It'll be a tough last four games for us, though."
After a bye Friday, Celina returns to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against first-place Argyle.
For Lone Star, the victory meant a 2-1 district mark and a 13-21 season record.
"We just need to keep it going," Carl said.
The Lady Rangers take on Carrollton Ranchview in a home meeting Friday at 7 p.m.
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