Brenham takes four-set loss against Columbus in home opener

“In the first home game, it took them a while to get comfortable and I played high school volleyball once,” Brenham coach Cydney Marlow said. “I understand how it goes. I understand the nerves and I do feel that was predominantly what it was.”

The Cubettes led for the first 18 points of the opening set before Columbus went on an eight-point run to take a 15-11 lead. Brenham could not find a run of its own as the Lady Cards finished the opening set with a kill.

Brenham’s tough opening set came despite junior hitter Gentri Gutierrez earning three of her five kills in an eight-point span.

“Gentri is a kid who will never come off the floor, regardless of whether she is playing well or not, because of the energy she brings to the team and the focus she brings,” Marlow said. “Every single time she goes back on the court, everybody seems to lock in in a different way.”

A tough second set followed for the Cubettes. Brenham earned only two kills and one ace while committing six attack errors, including three in the set’s final six points. Columbus, meanwhile, tallied six blocks in the second set.

Marlow motivated her girls for the third set by lifting them up.

“I think more than anything, I kind of just reminded them who they are, reminded them that they are exceptionally good players, whether or not we showed up like that today and they are capable of that and I think more than anything, they just need somebody to believe in them,” she said.

After Columbus opened the third set with two aces, Brenham responded to go on a five-point run that featured two kills and senior setter Claire Huff’s second ace of the match.

Columbus briefly retook the lead before Brenham went on a second five-point run to earn an 11-6 advantage. Junior Harper Huckert earned a kill and a block in the run while junior outside hitter Maggie Thibodeaux earned a kill and assisted on a block with freshman Addi Streckfuss.

Brenham led for the remainder of the third set and led by as many as nine points at 20-11 following an ace from Thibodeaux. Columbus got within two points at 24-22 after thwarting two set points, but a kill for the Cubettes sealed the set.

“I think it is a testament to what they are capable of, but are scared to do,” Marlow said.

The Cubettes showed flashes of good play in the fourth set. A kill dumped over the net by Huff and a quality serve from senior setter Reese Warmke pushed Brenham to a 5-3 lead before Thibodeaux responded to a Columbus kill with one of her own.

Three Brenham attack errors in a four-point span were part of a five-point Columbus run that turned momentum toward the Lady Cards.

Brenham tied the fourth set twice, but allowed a pair of critical runs late in the set. Columbus earned kills on four consecutive points in a five-point run to take a 22-16 lead that prompted a Brenham timeout. 

Kills from Gutierrez and Thibodeaux as well as a Columbus attack error cut the Lady Cards’ lead in half to force Columbus to use a timeout.

Huckert added her sixth kill of the match to get Brenham within two points before three straight Columbus kills ended the match.

“That fourth set should have been ours, but we let it kind of slip away about midway through when we got comfortable,” Marlow said. “But, that is also something that I have got to figure out with rotation balance and having the right people on the front row at the same time and making sure that the front row is balanced and we do not lose those six points in rotation four.”

Five Cubettes rounded out the Brenham attack with six combined kills. Brenham earned five aces with senior defensive specialist Brooke Nienstedt and senior libero Logan Hayslip each earning one ace.

Brenham will head to the Marble Falls tournament this weekend for another busy slate of matches. The Cubettes’ schedule on the opening day of the tournament on Friday includes Fredericksburg, San Marcos and host school Marble Falls.

“We had a conversation similar to how I am about next-ball mentality. It has got to be next-game mentality because if we dwell on this one, we are just going to sit there all year, but I think that they have a lot of fire going into this weekend,” Marlow said. “They obviously know they have a lot to prove to themselves and to everybody else.”