PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Madison Morris suffered a sprained foot during Tuesday's match, but not before posting a solid stat line. The Lady Badgers lost more than just a match on Tuesday.

Lampasas fell in a five-set nailbiter at Whitney (18-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 10-15), but also lost one of its key players when junior middle blocker Madison Morris suffered a sprained foot that will most likely sideline her until the team's district-opener next Friday against Hutto.

While there is no good time to experience an injury, the timing couldn't have been worse for the Lady Badgers.

Morris went down in the tiebreaking set with Lampasas trailing 13-10.

"It was the strangest timing, right there in that last set with everything on the line," head coach Beth Rutland said. "She played it out, but the timing of it was very surreal."

Although the injury occurred at a crucial point in the match, Rutland is glad it happed at this point of the season.

The Lady Badgers host Gatesville today at 5 p.m. and then have a open date before starting the district schedule.

Morris had an impressive game despite the injury, finishing with team-highs of 11 kills, three aces and five solo blocks.

But she was not the only player to post big numbers.

Sarah Bishop and Hailey Morris each recorded 23 digs, increasing their team-high season totals to 148 and 131, respectively. As a team, the Lady Badgers finished the night with a whopping 90 digs.

"They did a great job reading the ball and hustling," Rutland said of the duo. "When it was time to make it happen, they made it happen."

Jontell Ritz ended the evening with 11 digs in the contest, and libero Sam Gauna added nine.

After falling into a two-set deficit, the Lady Badgers (8-13) crawled their way out, forcing a fifth set.

"There's not much time in that fifth game," Rutland said. "If somebody gets on a roll and you're in a hole, 15 comes fast."

Although the defense was stout, Rutland attributes the loss to a lack of kills. Lampasas totaled 37 kills, an average of 7.4 per set.

"That's low for us," Rutland said. "We should have 10 or higher."

The Lady Badgers' setters did their part as Mariah Jones finished with 18 assists, and senior Jacqueline Hensley added 14.

Both subvarsities also fell on the road. The freshmen (9-9) lost in straight sets (16-25, 20-25), while the junior varsity (9-9) were upset in three sets (29-27, 18-25, 14-25).

The subvarsity squads will play after the varsity team tonight with the first serves scheduled for 6:30 p.m.