Thorndale’s winning streak of more than a dozen games came to an end on Tuesday night when the Lady Bulldogs were defeated by Burton 22-25, 23-25, 18-25 at the Giddings High School Gymnasium.
The loss kept them short of the Region IV tournament in Brenham coming up this weekend.
The Lady Panthers were the number one team from District 26-2A and were coming off a 31-1 in district. Burton shutout Milano in the first round and beating Weimar 3-1 in area last Thursday.
Thorndale beat Burton last season in a five-set tiebreaker last year to advance to the state tournament. THS head coach Angel Raines said the Lady Panthers would be tougher this year.
“They still have their big outside hitter who is a threat all the way around, and their setter is also a dual threat,” Raines told The Reporter earlier this year. “(Burton) has players that went to the state tourney two years ago and the regional finals last so they are not new to big games.”
The Lady Bulldogs were led by Madi Smith who had 12 kills, one assist, two blocks, 10 digs and one ace. Landri Leschber was also a top performer with 10 kills, 13 assists, five aces and six digs. Kyndal Robinson also had a solid all around game with with 17 assists, 10 digs and six kills.
Other Lady Bulldogs were Raeghan Carlson with two digs, two blocks and one assist; Allison Albert five digs; Ashley Pesl with three digs; Rainey Buchanan with one kill and four digs; Jayci Martinka with three digs, one ace, five kills, two assists and one ace.
This was the final game for seniors Martinka, Buchanan, Albert, Hadd, Leschber and Smith.
SHINER–Before falling to Burton, Thorndale swept Shiner last Thursday with a 25-11, 25-7, 25-13 victory at the Smithville High School Gymnasium.
Thorndale went into the game after having a bye in the first round.
“At the beginning there were nerves,” She said. “But after the first few points we found our groove and got settled in.
“We looked really comfortable on the court.”
Smith led Thorndale with 11 kills and Leschber had 10. Robinson was assist leader with 20.
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