Boyd celebrates a point in its sweep against Leonard Monday. Addy Delgado had 26 kills, Cami McIntire 40 assists and Bryleigh Wallace logged 26 digs. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
It was a quick night for Boyd Monday, but several Lady Jackets made sure to have their names called plenty of times in the 3A Division II area championship match against Leonard.
In just three sets, Addy Delgado landed 26 kills, Cami McIntire dished out 40 assists and Bryleigh Wallace dug up 26 balls to help lift another gold ball for Boyd (32-9) with a sweep against the Lady Tigers, 25-22, 25-12, 25-13.
Delgado said the big performances came from a focus on team communication, which also paved the way for Boyd’s second consecutive playoff sweep.
“We were just overcommunicating the entire night from what we needed from each other,” Delgado said. “We let each other know what was good and what was bad after every ball, and it worked out for the team tonight.”
The Lady Jackets had an uncharacteristic start to Set 1. Leonard’s Madison Jones aced Boyd twice early on and took an 8-4 lead before the Lady Jackets were able to make up some ground to tie at 12.
After the early struggles, Boyd returned to its usual form. Delgado landed a teardrop kill to force a Leonard timeout up 18-14, then swung for a couple of more no-doubt kills to edge past the Lady Tigers by three.
“It was just an odd first set. We get aced in the first two-out-of-three serve-receive and I’m thinking, ‘Oh no,'” Boyd coach Clark Oberle said. “But this team has figured its way out of adversity all year. They just took a step back, took a breath and started executing like they always do.”
Boyd sped to a 7-2 lead in the second set and Leonard burned an early timeout. The Lady Jackets kept their foot on the gas out of the break and cornered Leonard into another timeout at 14-4.
Wallace and Ava Mackie kept Leonard’s attack at bay, flying around the court to turn would-be scores into Boyd offense and another set win.
The two combined for 41 digs on the night in the back row.
“We came into the huddle before the second set and thought, ‘OK, it must just be the defense.’ We just needed to give our hitters more turns to swing,” Wallace said. “[Leonard] scored a lot going line and we were going to block line, but that wasn’t working. I said, ‘We’re going to block the same, I’m going to shift line and setter pull up.’ We just communicated better and it worked.”
Boyd registered its third set win comfortably again by battling to an early lead and riding the momentum to the finish line. Freshman Bayleigh Medlock nearly jumped too early on a Leonard overpass, but gathered last second to cash in on a tip and put the Lady Jackets up 15-9 while the Lady Tigers elected for a break.
A few minutes later, freshman defensive specialist Emmarese Harrison checked in for her first time in the match for Boyd, then dialed up an ace to put Leonard into another timeout with the Lady Tigers trailing 21-12, a deficit they couldn’t overcome late.
Oberle said beyond the usual contributors, he thought the Lady Jackets got great effort from a number of players on the roster during the win.
“Addy, Belle [Nichter], Cami and Bryleigh — you know they’re going to come through and do their job, but tonight everybody stepped up,” Oberle said. “Ava made great plays on defense, Jalynn [Starnes] played great, Kallie [Harlin] had a bunch more kills than we expect, Bayleigh was clutch serving. It was a total team effort and it was fun tonight.”
Boyd will play the winner of De Kalb/Edgewood. Game details for the 3AII Region II semifinal will be published when announced.
As the Lady Jackets move one match closer to the coveted state championship, seniors Delgado and Wallace said they’re playing like every moment is their last.
“Just go all out and be in the moment, and do everything to make it our best,” Delgado said. “We’re feeling pretty confident. It’s exciting.”
Added Wallace: “We’re enjoying every moment. We don’t want to look back when it’s all over and wish we could’ve done more.”
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