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Decatur sweeps Gainesville in first round




STRONG PERFORMANCE — Decatur sophomore Averi Walsh finished with seven kills, two digs and one assist in a 4A bi-district win over Gainesville Tuesday. MICAH MCCARTNEY/WCMESSENGER

STRONG PERFORMANCE — Decatur sophomore Averi Walsh finished with seven kills, two digs and one assist in a 4A bi-district win over Gainesville Tuesday. MICAH MCCARTNEY/WCMESSENGER

In her first season with Decatur, sophomore Averi Walsh has supported the Lady Eagles from the bench while waiting for her time to shine on the court.

Decatur coach Catherine Foerster called Walsh’s number in Tuesday’s 4A bi-district match against Gainesville at Denton Ryan High School.

Not backing down from the opportunity, Walsh put down seven kills and recorded two digs, one assist and 0.5 block, helping the Lady Eagles sweep the Lady Leopards, 25-6, 25-9, 25-13.

“I thought we all did great as a team tonight,” she said. “We all played a big role in the win, and we played really well together. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the season, but we really have grown and connected together since then. I’m glad we won, and we get to keep going.”

The win improved Decatur to 25-18.

Walsh hopes the win is the beginning of another long postseason for the Lady Eagles.

“It’s been an amazing experience playing my first year on the varsity team,” she said. “I feel like I fit in well as an outside hitter, hitting good kills. I really think we’ll keep going in the playoffs and eventually get back to state this year.”

Foerster praised Walsh and several additional reserve players for their contributions.

“These young kids are our new blood, and that’s what’s going to make the difference for us this year,” Foerster said. “Averi did a wonderful job tonight — she took care of the ball, put the ball with some speed and made some great shots. Lara [Hornsby] was also big for us tonight. Even though a lot of them have had limited playing time so far, our backups have done a great job of stepping up when we need them to at crucial times.

“When you get into the playoffs, it’s do-or-die for everyone. We looked a little too tight during warmups, which had me worried. But we battled through that, and that’s something we’ll have to get past with this young group. We made a few errors in the beginning and didn’t take care of the ball as well as we could have.”

The Lady Eagles will battle San Angelo Lake View in a 4A area match 6 p.m. Friday at Albany High School.

“We still need to clean up our free balls,” Foerster said. “I thought we got a lot of them tonight, but we weren’t putting them on the floor. We need to do a better job of connecting, communicating with our setter and holding the block in front of us.”

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