ON TO REGIONALS: First set comeback helps Bees past Vernon in three

Sville-Vernon FEATURE — Stephenville celebrates an ace during the third game of a regional quarterfinal sweep of Vernon Tuesday at Graham High School. || TheFlashToday.com photo by BRAD KEITH

By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

GRAHAM (November 10, 2015) — First it got tough. Then the tough got going.

Stephenville found itself trailing 24-20 in the opening set against Vernon Tuesday night, but exploded for a 6-0 run to steal the momentum before blowing out Vernon from there.

The Honeybees punched their ticket to the Region I-4A tournament in Snyder this weekend, beating Vernon 26-24, 25-18, 25-21 in a regional quarterfinal at Graham High School.

Stephenville faces No. 1 Bushland in the regional semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday at The Coliseum on the campus of Western Texas College in Snyder. Bushland swept Levelland 25-8, 25-10, 25-15 Tuesday.

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Kourtney Seaton is set to sign a national letter of intent with Northwestern State (La) Wednesday morning, but first she knocked down 16 kills and a block to lead the Bees to their 11th win in 12 games.

Vernon, winner of 12 straight entering the contest, showed life again in the third set, jumping out to a commanding 8-2 lead. But the Honeybees took over again, this time with a 10-1 run for a 12-9 advantage. It grew to 20-13 and was never in doubt again despite the Lady Lions’ best efforts to avoid the sweep.

Stephenville also picked up nine kills, 13 digs and two blocks from Kaleigh Conger while Mikayla Hobbs added six kills, 11 digs, three aces and two blocks. She aced two serves while also making a pair of diving digs to help Stephenville put away the second set. Kerstin Fredrickson added five kills.

Chelsea Gillespie and Taylor Garber again alternated quarterbacking the Honeybee attack with 17 and 15 assists, respectively. Garber also had two aces and Gillespie made five digs.

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Kylee Ponder matched Hobbs with 11 digs, trailing only Conger for the team lead. Hailey Martin had six digs and an ace, while Nicona Stillwell contributed three kills with two blocks and Emily Brandon added a kill and a block.

Here’s what Stephenville head coach Fran Metzger had to say about the win: