Lady Cats top Lady Eagles, hostile crowd

SA Times - The insults were flying around here almost as fast as the volleyball Saturday. In theory, excelling at volleyball is all about bumping, setting and spiking well. In actuality, succeeding in the world of District 3-5A volleyball for the Central High School team is about more than just doing things physically right. It requires a healthy dose of mental toughness, too - especially on the road.

The Abilene High School gym was not a friendly place to be if you were a Central volleyball player Saturday. "If you don't think there's mental abuse going on out there, there is," Central head coach Connie Bozarth said. The Lady Cats beat the Lady Eagles 25-27, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17, but throughout the match, the Central girls were bombarded by the shouts and insults from a student section filled with Abilene football players. "This is definitely the toughest place to play," said Central's Stephanie Starnes, who recorded a team-high 18 kills Saturday. "The guys have a lot to say to us. They call us 'fullback' and 'Sasquatch' and 'beast.' It's kinda fun to play in an atmosphere like that, but it is hard when it's against you. "But I think it adds to the excitement of the game. It makes you want to get the kill that much more because of what they are saying."

Saturday, Central faced more adversity than just a hostile crowd. The Lady Cats blew a 19-10 lead in Game 1 and lost 27-25, but they came back to win the last three games easily to remain in a tie for first place in the district with three matches remaining in the regular season. The Lady Cats have already clinched a playoff berth. Lyric Ross record 15 kills, and Kaitlyn Standard added 13 for Central. Ashley Darby led the team with 21 digs. Stacy Teston had 15 digs and a team-high three aces. None of that sat well with the Lady Eagles' fans.

Every time the Lady Cats switched sides of the court between games, the AHS student section followed, so they could be within a few feet of the Central girls, peppering them with insults and names to the point that an administrator had to tell them to settle down more than once. It's like this every time the Lady Cats - with 31-5 overall record, 8-1 mark in district and a No. 11 state ranking sitting like a bull's-eye on their backs - head on the road. "So many people are out to get us, and they tell their fans to come, show up and support their team against us," said Central setter Regan Darby, who had 55 assists Saturday. "Here they are just mean. They say mean things, and it can get in your head. It's hard with how loud they are, and the stuff is hurtful. "I'm proud of us all that we were able to block it out."

They haven't always been so good at doing that. "Last year those things would have taken then out of their game," Bozarth said. "They've grown up. They've matured. They laughed at it now." Of course, the Lady Cats' student section can be almost as brutal to visiting teams. "Our fans are pretty mean, but our principals are pretty strict, so they're not as mean as we'd like them to be," Darby said with a laugh. "We wish we could give (visiting teams) a taste of what they gave us. We love our fans." Bozarth is torn over the issue of overzealous fans. One one hand, she's glad so many students come to support their volleyball