Canyon – The seventh seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelina volleyball team saw its season come to an end with a 3-1 loss to second seeded Central Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.  Click here for stats.

   Central Oklahoma took game one 30-23, the Javelinas rallied to take game two 30-18 before the Bronchos took the final two games 30-15 and 30-25.

   The loss dropped the Javelinas 14-12 while Central Oklahoma improved to 30-5.

   Freshman Sha Tramble (Houston Clear Brook) led three Javelinas in double figures with 20 kills, junior Shaday Smith (Houston Jones) had 11 and freshman Mollie Biega (Houston Cypress Creek) added 10.

   Senior Heidi Scheopner (Harlingen South), playing in her final match, had 44 assists, nine digs and seven total blocks.

   Tara Grier (Poth) led the Javelinas with 24 digs while freshman Virginia Hernandez (Katy) added 16.

    “We are a young team and at times that showed,” said Javelina head coach Shannon Alvarado. “We took game two and an experienced team will come back and prove they are better than that and that’s what Central did.” 

   In game one, the Javelinas jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead thanks to three early kills by Tramble.

   Central cut the lead to 8-7, but a block by Scheopner and a kill by Kristin Chancellor (Bellville) got the lead back up to three, 11-8.

   The Javelinas still led 13-11, but Central put together a 4-0 run to grab the lead it would never relinquish.

   The lead was still just two points, 24-22, before the Bronchos closed out game one with a 6-1 run for a 30-23 victory.

   Each team had 17 kills in game one, but the Javelinas had seven attack errors to only three for Central Oklahoma. Tramble, Chancellor and Smith each had five kills apiece.

   The Javelinas didn’t let Central’s momentum carry over to game two as A&M-Kingsville ran out to a 12-4 lead. Tramble had six kills and Smith four to spark the quick start.

   The Javelinas continued to build the lead throughout the game, pushing it to as many as 13 points, 23-10.

   Central Oklahoma closed the gap to 10, 25-15, but A&M-Kingsville finished with a flourish, scoring five of the final eight points to win going away 30-18.

   The Javelinas had 21 kills and just five attack errors in game two.

   In game three it was Central Oklahoma early, putting together a 8-0 run to grab an 13-4 advantage.

   Back to back blocks by Scheopner fueled a three-point rally that cut the Central lead to 19-14.

   But the Bronchos came right back and scored nine straight points to put the game out of reach at 28-14 and won 30-15.

   The Javelinas jumped out to a 5-2 led in game four thanks to kills by Biega, Tramble and Chancellor.

   But again Central answered right back, running off five straight points to grab a 7-5 lead.

   The Javelinas came back to grab a 12-9 lead, but Central rallied again, scoring eight consecutive points to grab a 17-12 advantage.

    But the Javelinas refused to go away, scoring seven of the next eight points to grab a 19-18 lead.

   Kills by Tramble and Scheopner, blocks by Biega and Smith and a service ace by Kruger keyed the rally.

   Central came right back to grab a 24-19 advantage and still led 25-20 before the Javelinas put together their last rally of the match.

   A service ace by Scheopner and a kill by Chancellor cut the lead to one, 25-24.

   But Central closed out the match by winning five of the last six points to take game four 30-25.

   “They fought hard and they did some really good things,” said Alvarado. “We’ve always played from behind all year, but that’s what makes them happy. They came back in game one and used that momentum in game two. I wish that would have carried into game three. We don’t roll over and die. The one thing we talked about is do what we do well and go out fighting. That’s what our kids did. They did the best they could.”