Lindale Clinches Undefeated District 16-4A Volleyball Championship with 3-1 Win at Whitehouse

WHITEHOUSE -- A raucous home crowd helped Whitehouse to a strong start, but Lindale stormed back to overcome a 1-0 match deficit and win the final three sets in Tuesday's volleyball match to clinch the District 16-4A championship.

After falling 25-23 in Game 1, Lindale fought back to beat Whitehouse 26-24 in Game 2 before dominating the final two sets 25-5, 25-14. The victory pushed Lindale, which was ranked No. 11 in the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 4A poll, to 36-3 overall and a perfect 10-0 in 16-4A.

Lindale dictated the action at the net thanks to Zhanelle Geathers and Travicia Acy. Geathers had 14 kills and eight blocks, while Acy added 12 kills and five blocks and took over the match for stretches during the latter portion of the match.

"She did great tonight. She's a great player for us," said Lindale coach Meghan Renicker. "She has her moments in games, but tonight she was a star for us."

"We came out making a lot of mistakes on our side. We just talked about cleaning them up, and if we cleaned up all those small mistakes on our side, I knew we could step back out on the court and beat them. That's what I think we did in the third and fourth."

Lindale's Sydney Tiiman dished out a match-high 45 assists, while Rhyan Rand had 12 kills and one block. Kaitlin Rice and Makenna Allen combined for eight kills. Libero Sarah Borger spearheaded the Lady Eagles' defensive performance, which improved dramatically as the match progressed.

The loss dropped Whitehouse to 19-13 overall and 8-2 in district. The LadyCats enter the 4A Region II playoffs as 16-4A's No. 2 seed.

Ashton Ates led Whitehouse with 10 kills and two blocks. Ronnie Fountain led the LadyCats with 22 assists, while Kaitlyn Anderson had six kills and three blocks. Megan Harris and Lindsey Hannah combined for five kills.

Whitehouse came out on fire and stunned Lindale with a Game 1 victory fueled by five Ates kills. The LadyCats appeared well on their way to a surprising 2-0 match advantage with an 17-13 Game 2 lead before Acy, Geathers, and Rand combined for seven kills and two blocks down the stretch to bring the Lady Eagles back. Trailing 23-22, Lindale got three Geathers kills to take the set, 26-24.

Lindale then outscored Whitehouse 50-19 in the final two games. Runs of 12-1 and 9-0 secured a 2-1 match advantage, then Lindale built a 13-6 Game 4 lead en route to ending the match. Acy had nine kills and three blocks in the final two games.

The 4A playoffs start early next week.