Cedar Park one win away from playoff spot following impressive win over Leander

CEDAR PARK — It might be a bit of a season on the brink for Cedar Park.

The Timberwolves’ playing rotation is dominated with non-seniors, and when everything clicks for it on offense, Cedar Park has some of the more impressive kill ability around.

Sophomore outside hitter Joy Udoye is a budding star, junior libero Callie Krueger will suit up for Texas in two years, starting setter Sibley Oster is a sophomore and both junior middle Sofia Peters and sophomore Mya Cheatum have the talent to end up playing somewhere in college.

But the current season for the Timberwolves is also alive and well, especially after Tuesday’s 22-25, 25-20, 25-9, 25-17 win over Leander at Cedar Park High School that almost assures the team a playoff spot.

And seniors Olivia Maib and Muna Mmuo, who want to make sure their final prep season last as long as possible, played a big part in a tight performance by the Timberwolves the final three games.

“We’ve been working on offense a lot in practice, and I think that’s showing,” Maib said. “We were in a little bit of a funk earlier in the season, but we’ve come out of it and this was a big win for the district.”

Maib might be one of the more versatile six-rotation players in Central Texas.

She could set for the majority of the teams in the area, but she also has the power of a good hitter. It adds a special dynamic to Cedar Park that was evident as she slammed 10 kills and recorded 18 assists.

“I love it because I get to do both,” she said. “I get the fun of hitting and the strategic part of hitting, so I kind of get the best of both worlds. I love it.”

With Krueger all over the floor pulling up attacks by the Lions, the Timberwolves were constantly able to fluidly be in their offense.

Maib and Oster (28 assists) were able to find Udoye (15 kills), Peters (nine kills) and Mmuo (seven kills) consistently, with the trio firing off a number of impressive shots.

“All of our hitters have a lot of power and have such good traits that they can differentiate where they’re going to go,” Krueger said. “It’s hard for defenders to read them. … Our setters did a good job involving everyone, and everyone was on fire the last three sets.”

Cedar Park (26-16, 7-5 District 25-5A) avenged an earlier loss to Leander with the win, and the two teams are tied for third in the district behind Liberty Hill and Rouse.

Both can clinch a playoff spot with wins Friday against teams at the bottom of the standings, and with additional wins in the regular season finale would play again on Oct. 27 to determine the district’s third playoff seed.

“After that first set we just had to get into our groove,” Cedar Park coach Lori McLaughlin said. “That’s something we’ve been working on a lot is going for one point at a time. … And since the start of the second round of district play we’ve really had high-level practices and been connecting on offense.”

The Lions, who are also dominated with non-seniors in their playing rotation, lost starting setter Jacy Carrejo early in the second set to a kneed injury and weren’t as crisp on offense from that point on.

Still, they did a good job adjusting, and Jacey Moulton finished with eight kills and Maddie Johnson, Troy Acevedo and Angie Simmons all fired five shots.

Leander (21-21, 7-5) can record its first winning season since 2013 if it closes out the regular season with wins over Lehman and Glenn.

“I really enjoy this team,” Leander coach Ashley Atkinson said. “They get along well, care for each other and really enjoy volleyball — and that’s what it’s all about.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Cedar Park tops Leander to move one win away from postseason