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Denied again

Nocona hitters too much for Paradise in playoff loss

By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, November 9, 2008

Two months ago Nocona rode the strong arm of standout hitter Zowie O'Neal to get past Paradise in a thrilling non-district volleyball match. Tuesday night was a different story when the two teams met in a Class 2A bi-district playoff showdown.

The Lady Panthers had a handle on O'Neal this time around. However, a few of her friends made up the difference in the rematch, and Paradise never recovered in a 25-19, 25-19, 25-8 loss.

Net play made the difference for Paradise early in the match. The locals routinely stuffed the Indians at the net to limit the Nocona offense.

The defensive work also allowed the Lady Panthers to lead for most of the first game. The defense let up near the end of the game and that allowed Nocona to come from behind and steal the opening win.

The Indians never lost the momentum. Despite a spectacular defensive performance from libero Candice McDaniel, the Nocona hitters were too much for Paradise in the end.

Paradise, which started just one senior this season, finished its successful season with a 24-12 record. The Indians are moving on to the second round of the playoffs with an overall mark of 27-11.

It was the Lady Panthers who led for most of game one. A barrage of kills by Meg Arthur, Baleigh Newman and Hannah Johnson allowed the team to jump ahead 5-2.

Nocona didn't stay quiet for long. Hitters Stephanie Reed and Kennedy Hill returned fire and eventually tied the game at 6-6.

That's when Briana Lambert, Paradise's lone senior, crushed a kill to give her team the lead once again.

Two unforced NHS errors and a pair of stuffs by Hannah Runnels allowed the Lady Panthers to keep a slim lead at 18-16.

That's where everything fell apart for Paradise.

Nocona's Blair Dingler and O'Neal fired rockets through the defense and scored seven unanswered points to take a 23-18 lead.

Four serving errors and the Indians' run were too much to overcome. Johnson slammed a kill to stop the run but Nocona answered with the final two points.

The Lady Panthers got off to another good start in game two. Three Nocona hitting miscues and kills by Casey Fletcher and Lambert put the team in front 5-1.

That was the final lead of the night for the locals.

Nocona heated up offensively and consistently fired off kills before Paradise could get in position to block.

O'Neal served up a pair of aces and Watson dished out a pair of kills to put the team in front 7-5.

The game was close for a short time. Johnson, Runnels, Newman and Lambert scattered kills to keep pace with the Indians while tying the score on three occasions.

McDaniel was all over the floor trying to keep Nocona hitters at bay.

However, she could not cover the whole floor, and that's when Nocona starting firing shots down both lines to score five straight points.

Arthur stuffed a shot by Hill, and Newman made a couple of spectacular defensive plays to stop the run.

It was not enough as the Indians got on another run to get in front 20-14.

Paradise made a short run late in the game thanks to a pair of kills by Fletcher, Johnson and Lambert and another stuffed block by Arthur. Nocona finally got the serve back and put the game away.

The third game was never close. The Indians scored the first seven points, and the Paradise defense never stopped the bleeding.