Lady Tigers win district for first time in 20 years

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  • Members of the District 5-4A district champion Snyder Lady Tigers’ volleyball team pictured on the front row are (l-r) Kate McWilliams, Abby Benitez, Natalee James, Dayz Lentz and Alexia Ruiz. On the back row are Melanie Martinez, Erin Crane, Kendra Bynum, Hayley Humphrey, head coach Mindi Bredemeyer, Kamiah Davis, Madelynn Cravens and assistant coaches Jori McLellan and Bianca Gonzalez.
    Members of the District 5-4A district champion Snyder Lady Tigers’ volleyball team pictured on the front row are (l-r) Kate McWilliams, Abby Benitez, Natalee James, Dayz Lentz and Alexia Ruiz. On the back row are Melanie Martinez, Erin Crane, Kendra Bynum, Hayley Humphrey, head coach Mindi Bredemeyer, Kamiah Davis, Madelynn Cravens and assistant coaches Jori McLellan and Bianca Gonzalez.
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For the first time in 20 years, the Snyder volleyball team are district champions.
Snyder beat Midland Greenwood 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) Saturday to lock up the District 5-4A title.
The title is Snyder’s third this year as both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams also won district.
Head coach Mindi Bredemeyer said the team set out to win district and that she could not be more pleased with how her team played throughout the district season.
“It’s a special feeling,” she said. “I am very proud of them. We knew going in that there would be some tough district matches, but we knew we could win this district. It was cool to see the girls stick to it.”
Seniors Kate McWilliams, Kendra Bynum and Natalee James led the way for the Lady Tigers. McWilliams and James both had double digit kills and Bynum racked up 39 assists against the Rangerettes.
McWilliams also had 17 digs, James recorded two service aces and senior Madelynn Cravens added 10 kills.
Bredemeyer said the senior class is a special one.
“They knew this was how they wanted to go out,” she said. “For the most part, they have been in this program since the seventh grade and they have been playing together for even more years than that. It was great to see all that hard work come to fruition.”
With one district game left, a road match-up against San Angelo Lake View at 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Lady Tigers have a chance to finish the district schedule undefeated.
In just her first full season as the head coach, Bredemeyer said she hopes this championship makes people notice what the Snyder program is doing.
“I hope it gets people paying attention,” she said. “I hope they see the hard work the girls put in and that we can have success. We have a lot of great kids here.”
The Lady Tigers can begin prepping for the playoffs as they will take on the fourth place team in District 5-4A, which is currently in a three-way tie between Iowa Park, Vernon and Burkburnett. Bredemeyer said her team will be ready for any of them.
“Their district has a similar make-up to ours in that they have a clear first place,” she said. “As far as competitiveness and talent, it is comparable to our district. We just need to show up ready to play. District play has shown that we can play full games and beat anybody. We know what we need to do and we will be ready.”
Snyder will host Abilene Cooper at 4:30 p.m. Friday for a warm-up match as they wait to find out who it will play on Nov. 5 in the first round of the playoffs.
Snyder statistics:
Abby Benitez 27 digs, 2 ace, 5 assists; Melanie Martinez 3 kills, 3 digs; Kate McWilliams 11 kills, 17 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist; Kamiah Davis 8 kills, 6 digs, 1 solo block, 2 block assist, 2 aces; Kendra Bynum 6 kills, 23 digs, 2 block assist, 1 ace, 39 assists; Natalee James 10 kills, 10 digs, 1 block assists, 2 aces, 1 assist; Hayley Humphrey 3 kills; Dayz Lentz 6 digs, 5 assists; Madelynn Cravens 10 kills, 1 block assist, 1 dig, 1 assist.