Austin
Westlake Fights Off Klein 15-12, 15-13
Sophomore middle Shannon Davis ignited a 4-0 run to lead Austin Westlake back from a 13-10 deficit in game 2 and a spot in the state 5A championship match against Houston Stratford on Saturday. Davis had two huge blocks and two kills down the stretech as Westlake fought off a determined performance by Kate Street and the Klein Bearkats.
"I said we're not going to lose this game. I had a burst of energy," said Davis. "That's my job - to block balls. I played my role on the team."
"She's a gamer. She played awesome," said Bennett. "Shannon has to play well up there for us to win."
Klein, making its first appearance in the state tournament, had big leads in both games but couldn't overcome the relentless Westlake attack. The Bearkats jumped to an 8-3 lead in game 1 before Westlake ran off 6 straight points to take the lead.
"For the first time coming to state, we stepped up and performed well," said Klein coach Cindy Miksch. "They had a couple of things go well for them and then we played a little scared."
"It took awhile to get going. We were tight. Klein was looser and came out and played well," said Westlake coach Al Bennett. "We came out too hyped up. We slowly got into it. We blocked well and we played good defense. We need to do a better job of running our middles to do well against Stratford tomorrow."
Lindsey Louis led Westlake with 13 kills and Davis added 7 kills to go with 1 solo block and was in on 5 more. Kelsey Wood also had 6 kills for Westlake, which improved to 37-5. Meghan Kainz had 20 assists. Street led Klein, which ends its season at 33-9, with 9 kills and 4 blocks. Jenni Loverich had 6 kills and 2 blocks. Kate Lindley had 19 assists.
Statistical leaders
Austin Westlake
Kills - Lindsey Louis 13, Shannon Davis 7, Kelsey
Wood 6, Meghan Kainz and Jen Linder 5, Meredith Hasson 2, Kelsey Bryant
1
Assist - Meghan Kainz 20, Meredith Hasson 11
Blocks - Shannon Davis 1S, 5A; Meredith Hasson 3A; Kelsey Wood
and Meghan Kainz 1
Aces - Meghan Kainz 2, Kelsey Wood, Meredith Hasson and Chrissy
Broaddus 1
Digs - Lindsey Louis 11, Chrissy Broaddus 9, Kelsey Wood 8, Meredith
Hasson 6,
Klein
Kills - Kate Street 9, Jenni Loverich 6, Kristen Schultea
4, Jessica Hulesebosch 3, Brandy Swann and Katie Lindley 1
Assists - Katie Lindley 19
Aces - Kate Street 3, Katie Lindley, Amanda Lucas and Jessica Hulesebosch
1
Blocks - Kate Street 3S, 1A; Jenni Loverich 2S; Jessica Hulesebosch
and Brandy Swann 1S
Digs - Jessica Hulesebosch 10, Kate Street 8, Katie Lindley 7,
Nancy Gerrish 6, Amanda Lucas 5
