BEAUMONT – One of the best seasons in West Orange-Stark volleyball
history came to an end Tuesday night at the hands of the Liberty Lady
Panthers.
The Lady Mustangs were in every game but the Lady Panthers figured it
out in each game as Liberty walked away from Beaumont Central’s Jaguar
Gym with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 Class 4A Region III bidistrict
volleyball playoff victory.
It marked the finale for a tremendous senior class for Lady Mustang
head coach Gwen Kelly-Hall.
It was the final contest for Lady Mustang senior standout Aaliyah
Teel, who certainly did not go away without a fight.
Teel powered the WO-S arsenal with 18 kills to go along with four
service points and two aces for District 24-4A’s runnerup and No. 2
seed.
Liberty, the third-place unit out of District 23-4A, definitely had a
standout in senior captain Kaitlyn Slack. Slack burned the Lady
Mustangs for 19 kills of her own and was potent with her service game
as she collected 16 points and four aces.
The Lady Mustangs let some golden opportunities pass them by,
especially in the first twp games.
WO-S led Game One 16-14 but Liberty battled back to a 19-19 tie and
the Lady Panthers ran away with the game’s final six points.
Slack and Teel had seven kills apiece in Game One.
The Lady Mustangs trailed 13-8 in Game Two but kept battling hard and
pulled themselves into a 20-20 tie.
Once again the Lady Panthers staged a late rally, going up 23-20. Wo_S
got to within 24-22 until Slack came up with the game’s final kill.
Once again, Slack and Teel had seven kills apiece in Game Two.
The Lady Mustangs did not back down after being down two games and
actually held a 15-13 lead in Game Three. However, Slack served up six
straight points and had a pair of aces as the Lady Panthers built a
20-15 advantage.
Liberty built its lead to 23-17 and fought off a late WO-S surge and
Slack finished it with a monster smash.
Slack had plenty of help from teammates.
Sommer Miles put together 14 kills and five points. Trenecia LaFleur
added eight kills.
Meagan Clawson had seven points, two aces and two kills for the Lady
Panthers. Kelcie Ancelet added four points and two kills while Allison
Blackburn had three points and an ace.
Ja’Tayjah Vital collected four kills for the Lady Mustangs. Shatyra
Allen had three kills while Elasha Colbert and Elecia Barlow added two
kills apiece.
Olivia Basinger and Natiyah Brumfield served up five points apiece.
Barlow and Phillis Jones each had four points and an ace. Gabby
Robinson served up three points while Taylor Colbert had two points
and an ace.
The Lady Panthers will now move on to the area round where they will
face Class 4A powerhouse LaGrange.