BRISCOE — It was as if the postseason came early. Positioning was on the line, and once the first serve took place, the atmosphere was filled with cheers and chants.
In the bout between Fort Elliott and Miami, held on Tuesday at the Fort Elliott CISD Gymnasium, a District 1-1A championship was on the line. On Senior Night, the experienced Lady Cougars took control in the middle of the first set and never relinquished.
Fort Elliott relied on its senior core and junior Jayla Dickey to overpower Miami in three sets. The Lady Cougars rallied from a five-point deficit to take the first set at 25-20, controlled the second game to a claim 25-14 decision, before pulling away late to earn the sweep at 25-18.
“We knew this was a big game,” said Holly Lindley, first-year head coach for Fort Elliott. “We knew that we had to win. These girls are resilient. They’ve got grit, determination, and they want to go to state. We have that mindset.”
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Senior Jaylie Dickey was part of that winning effort, posting 12 digs, five kills and one ace.
“It feels really good,” Dickey said of the win. “This was a game we were all worried about, especially with it being Senior Night. We had a lot of emotion coming into it, and it just feels good to beat (Miami) in three and stay on top.”
The Lady Cougars extended their winning streak to 11 matches, improving to 25-6 and 11-0 in district. With three matches left in the district slate, Fort Elliott won 12 of their last 13 matches, dating back to Sept. 2.
Miami dipped down to 17-7, 9-2 in District 1-1A. The Lady Warriors also saw their six-match winning streak snapped, with their previous setback being against Fort Elliott on Sept. 20.
Miami did hold their own, holding a lead in the first set and went back-and-forth with the Lady Cougars in the final game.
“I’m proud of my team, every single one of my players,” Miami head coach Keri Dukes said. “I told them before the game to just give me everything that you got, beginning to end. Whatever happens, happens. They gave me everything they had.”
The Lady Warriors aim to get back on track in a hurry, going up against Darrouzett at 6 p.m. on Friday in Miami.
“We just got to go take care of business,” Dukes said. “A lot of these younger girls never had a playoff experience. Our older girls have. I told them (after the match) that’s when it gets fun, and it’ll be a great atmosphere. I’m excited for them to get that opportunity.”
Fort Elliott will also hit the road, facing off against Kelton at 6 p.m. on Friday in Wheeler.
“We just have to take on each team, one set at a time,” Dickey said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. You can’t look past anyone in our district, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Coming off of this game, we’re going to have a lot of energy, which is going to help.”
“It also helps when the crowd gets really excited and loud,” she added. “It gives that playoff mentality. It’s loud and intense, and it helps us keep the momentum. Even when we mess up, everyone’s super supportive. We want to lift each other up, and we know if someone’s down because we’ve been together for so long. That’s important to us.”
After the Lady Cougar program tipped its cap to its seven seniors in Dickey, Brylie Hand, Ali Mahler, Aliyah McCarter, Tatum Pigg, Rylee Rose and Jaycee Sewell, Miami was determined to play spoiler. The Lady Warriors jumped out of the gate to start the match, opening up a 7-2 lead following a block by Ava Lackey.
Miami’s 5-0 run forced Fort Elliott to call for time. The Lady Cougars clawed back into the set, eventually tying the game up at 8-8. Both teams engaged in a seesaw battle, before the Lady Warriors took a 20-18 forced a second timeout from Fort Elliott.
Fort Elliott responded by finishing the set with a 7-1 run to take the five-point win, which culminated in a set sealing kill by Rose.
“I just told them to not be complacent,” Lindley said, relaying what she told her team during the second call for time. “That’s been our thing all year long. They really stepped up.”
Jaylie Dickey echoed her coach.
“(Lindley) knows that we know our spots,” she said. “We know how to play ball. Even when we are winning or we’re first in district, you have to remember to work hard to get there. Miami is a great team, and it takes a lot. Those volleys were long and hard. We didn’t want that, and we had to get our act together.”
Dickey also stressed Fort Elliott’s philosophy of FBK, the acronym for “first ball kill.”
“That’s what our goal is,” Dickey added.
Fort Elliott carried that momentum into the second set, quickly building a 7-0 lead. Miami got within three on several occasions, before the Lady Cougars took a nine-point triumph at 25-14.
The final set returned to the back-and-forth format, with Miami and Fort Elliott tying the game up on eight separate instances. Thanks to a service ace from McCarter and two kills from Jayla Dickey, Fort Elliott held a 20-17 lead and coerced Miami into a timeout.
“Jaylie’s been hurt, and now, she’s come back,” said Lindley of the Dickey sisters. “She had a dang good game. Jayla can hit the ball. She doesn’t get excited about anything, but she can hit.”
According to Jaylie, there’s more than just being a one-two punch for the Lady Cougars.
“I tell (Jayla) that if you’re getting the set ball, and I’m not, you better get a kill,” she said. “Since I’m the older sister, I want her to show up. Playing with her is a lot of fun. She knows if I tell her something, she’s not going to take it to heart. She’s not going to get mad at me if I’m like, ‘hey, do better.’ The same goes to me. She tells me to do better, and I’m like ‘oh, I better step up my game.”
From there, the Lady Cougars were able to finish the match on a high note. The final two points came from back-to-back aces from Hand.
To Dickey, it was a heavy sigh of relief.
“That felt so good,” said Jaylie. “In the second set, I thought I was going to throw up. It was so nerve wracking , because the first set was so tight. If we went to five long sets, where I’m hot and I’m tired, I was going to fall over.”
Jayla Dickey finished the match with eight kills, followed by Rose’s seven kills. Sewell went multidimensional with 25 assists, 14 digs and six kills, complemented by Hand’s 38 digs and her pair of aces.
Brylee Thompson led Miami with 10 kills and 10 assists, as Bentley Brooks tallied 20 digs and 10 assists. Ava Lackey picked up eight kills and four blocks.
According to Dukes, Ava Lackey and her older sister Rhion Lackey have been hammers for the Lady Warriors.
“I’m super proud of what they’ve done,” Dukes said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and they just have taken them under their wings. They help (their young teammates) in any way they can.”
Harper Hale, the libero for Miami, reeled in 20 digs against Fort Elliott.