THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

During her varsity career for the Odessa High volleyball team, Destiny Velasquez has been on the court for four straight senior nights. Tuesday marked Velasquez’s final home contest and her senior night at the OHS Fieldhouse as the Lady Bronchos hosted Amarillo Tascosa for their home finale. Velasquez and the other five seniors on Odessa High’s roster made a late push, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Rebels collected a 25-15, 25-13, 25-22 sweep and a playoff berth in a District 2-6A match. “The first two (sets) we weren’t all there,” said Velasquez, who finished with a team-high 11 kills. “When it came to the third one, we knew what had to fix and we fixed it. We tried to play our best from start to finish.” Odessa High head coach Victoria Smith said the team struggled to find consistency early. That allowed Amarillo Tascosa (23-17 overall, 6-4 District 2-6A) to roll up back-to-back victories in the first and second sets. Smith spoke at length with her team during the brief break between the second and third sets about choosing its attacking spots precisely. “The third set was definitely 10 times better,” Smith said. “Our problem throughout the game was attacking. In that third set, we finally turned it on. “We just have to stay attacking and our defense has to be moving the entire game. That didn’t kick in for us until the third set, which is a little different for us. We have to figure that out.” In the third set, the Lady Bronchos and Lady Rebels didn’t see much breathing room in the first 42 points with 17 ties and 17 lead changes. After Emma Norvell — a senior right side hitter — supplied her eighth kill of the match to tie the score 21-21, the Lady Rebels scored four of the final five points for the sweep. Norvell scored the match-winning point for Amarillo Tascosa on a block. Amarillo Tascosa’s three-pronged attack of Reagan Leinen, Julia Sims and Norvell combined for 30 kills. Leinen posted a match-high 13 kills, while Sims added nine. Sims also finished with 16 assists. “We seem to have a different hitter step up every match,” Amarillo Tascosa head coach April Bolen said. “We had Julia Sims, Reagan Leinen and Emma Norvell tonight, who had a lot of kills, but it’s not always that way. We are a young team and we still haven’t found that one go-to hitter yet, so we have a lot of inconsistency in our hitting.” During the first set, the Lady Rebels used a pair of runs to take a 12-5 lead. Amarillo Tascosa closed out the opener with a five-point and claimed the first win on an error from Odessa High (6-26, 0-10). Miscues haunted the Lady Bronchos in first two sets with a combined 20 errors. The Lady Rebels also collected match-point in the second set on an Odessa High error. “Set one to set three, we were a completely different team,” Smith said. “We have to be a little bit more consistent in the positive way. We can’t take so long to get started.” Amarillo Tascosa ended with 48 digs, while Odessa High had 47. Odessa High senior Katrina Garcia posted a match-high 20 digs, while fellow senior Adaila Elizondo added seven. Amarillo Tascosa’s Faith Underwood dished out 17 assists to lead all setters. Odessa High has two district matches left in the regular season. The Lady Bronchos have been eliminated from playoff contention, but Velasquez said the team is eager to collect its first district victory as it travels to Midland Lee at 5 p.m. Friday. “If we just stay positive and keep our heads in the game and focus on what we need to do and connect, we can win,” Velasquez said.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

AMARILLO TASCOSA SWEEPS ODESSA HIGH ON SENIOR NIGHT

ROYAL MCGREGOR

Odessa American | 10/17/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Ford