High school volleyball: As season winds down, several districts are still in play
As high school volleyball moves into its final three weeks of regular-season play, a few key matches Tuesday night hold important playoff implications:
∙ In District 25-6A, red-hot Westwood, which has won three straight matches, including an upset of Vista Ridge last week, travels to Round Rock. The Dragons and Warriors have shared five of the past eight district titles, and neither team has swept the other in district play for nearly two decades. Round Rock won the first meeting at Westwood, but the Warriors are playing at a much faster tempo.
∙ In District 25-4A, McCallum travels to LASA for a battle of district co-leaders. The Knights won the first meeting at home; LASA has beaten Ann Richards twice. A win would put the Raptors in the driver's seat; a loss would leave the McCallum-Ann Richards second meeting with added district title and playoff seeding implications. LASA is unbeaten at home this season.
∙ In District 26-6A, Anderson is at Austin High. The Trojans are one win out of playoff position with Westlake and Austin High both leading them. That makes Tuesday's match a must-win for Anderson.
Around Class 6A
In 25-6A, Round Rock (30-9, 8-1) returned to the win column as the Dragons shook off a Tuesday loss at Vista Ridge by sweeping Manor 25-7, 25-18, 25-14 behind Molly Cravens' nine kills and Riley Clinton's eight kills, 20 assists, nine digs and three aces. ... Westwood tightened the playoff race with its 19-25, 26-24, 29-27, 25-21 win over Vista Ridge. Julia Hopkins had 16 kills, Grace McCluskey had eight kills and five blocks, and Rachel Cai had 39 assists. Vista ridge setter Jasmin Dion had 100 assists in the Rangers' two matches last week, putting her on pace to finish with more than 1,000 this season. ... In other district action, Stony Point beat Cedar Ridge 25-21, 25-23, 10-25, 25-19 and Vandegrift swept McNeil 25-8, 25-20, 25-15. Round Rock leads the district with one loss while Vandegrift is second at 7-2, with Vista Ridge and Stony Point tied at 6-3 and Westwood 5-4.
In 26-6A, Lake Travis swept Del Valle while Dripping Springs swept Akins, and Austin High beat Johnson 25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19. Westlake returned to form by beating Anderson 25-17, 25-10, 25-14 as Allie Hudgins had 14 kills, Lily Davis added 12 and Reese Emerick had 13 digs. Lake Travis and Dripping Springs are the top two in district while Austin High is third and Westlake is ahead of Anderson and Bowie in the quest for the final playoff position.
Around Class 5A
Georgetown and Hendrickson moved closer to a rematch last week as the Eagles swept Pflugerville 25-13, 25-12, 25-9 behind Mckenzie Bernard's 10 kills. Kamryn Shelton added nine kills, Rhagen Ramirez served three aces with 17 digs, and Izzy Casanova had 15 assists. Ava Roberts led the Panthers with seven kills while Taryah Alexander added six. Laila Ornick notched 27 digs, and Isabel Cervantes, a junior, went over the 1,000 mark for career assists.
Hendrickson beat Bastrop 25-8, 25-6, 25-11. Eva Marie Thompson led the Hawks with nine kills while Mia McCurley added eight. Jordan Flores notched 14 digs and Mia Perez added 12 while Morgan Warren finished with 22 assists. ... East View is third in district at 7-2 after sweeping Cedar Creek 25-22, 25-21, 25-21, and Connally beat Elgin 25-23, 25-9, 25-14 as Natalie Johnson slammed 16 kills with 13 digs.
Weiss rebounded from a tough Tuesday night loss to Waco Midway by beating Copperas Cove 18-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14 as setter Takyla Brown had 45 assists, five kills, an ace and 15 digs for the Wolfpack, which got 27 kills from Sara Randall. Ashley Go had 21 digs and an ace. Weiss is second in the district behind Midway.
Around the area
Rouse and Liberty Hill are on top in district play after the Raiders beat Lockhart 25-9, 25-13, 25-14 and Liberty Hill beat Lehman 25-5, 25-14, 25-12. Rouse got 15 kills by Jade Key and 10 from Jadyn Wilgus to smother the Lions. Rouse's Mary Schirpik led all defenders with 16 digs while Lockhart's Preslee Reynolds had 14 digs. LIberty Hill got 12 kills by Taylor Gaines as the Panthers rolled past Lehman. Leander swept Hays 25-17, 25-15, 25-20, and Cedar Park swept Glenn 25-20, 25-20, 25-17.
Wimberley fell to San Antonio Davenport, the district leader and No. 4 team in the state, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14 despite 14 kills by Laney Hennessee. Addison Parks had three blocks while Jesse Weeks collected 23 assists and Rhagen Masur added 24 digs.
Blanco beat Florence 25-7, 25-18, 25-13 to remain unbeaten in district. Giddings continues to improve after a slow start as the Buffs swept Caldwell 25-20, 25-16, 25-10. The are 6-0 in district after losing 20 of their first 28 matches. Burnet split two matches last week, finishing with a win over Jarrell. Highlights saw Bulldogs outside hitter Zaria Solis get her 600th career kill, MaeSyn Gay earn her 900th and Camryn Courtney notch her 1,000th career assist.
Fab Fives
Class 6A
1. Lake Travis 37-4
2. Dripping Springs 41-3
3. Austin High 26-11
4. Round Rock 30-10
5. Weiss 23-8
Class 5A
1. Rouse 32-11
2. Liberty Hill 34-8
3. Georgetown 27-14
4. Hendrickson 24\6-6
5. LASA 19-3
Class 4A/others
1. St. Michael’s 33-8
2. Round Rock Christian 30-8
3. Thrall 26-8
4. Blanco 24-8
5. Gateway Charter Prep 19-12
Crusaders' Mooney honored as top player
Player of the week: Mora Mooney, sr., St. Michael’s. Mooney led the Crusaders past San Antonio Holy Cross 25-11, 25-21, 25-20 Thursday with 24 kills and 11 digs a day after she had 25 kills in a win over the San Antonio Saints. Mora has 1,277 career kills, including 556 this season.
Previous players of the week: Dripping Springs' Henley Anderson, Liberty Hill's Kealy Dirner, Weiss' Sara Randall, Round Rock Christian's Chayse Wilson, Round Rock's Riley Clinton, Vandegrift's Alex Beauchamp, Rouse's Savannah Skopal and Lake Travis' Avery Hamlin
Westwood is on a roll, earns top team recognition
Team of the week: Westwood. First-year head coach Madison Smith has the Warriors peaking at the perfect time as they have won five of six matches, including huge wins over playoff favorites Vandegrift and Vista Ridge last week. Julia Hopkins amassed 40 kills in the two victories.
Previous teams of the week: Austin High, Lake Travis (week 2), Stony Point, St. Michael’s, McCallum, Dripping Springs, Lake Travis and Bowie
This week's top matches
Tuesday
Anderson at Austin High, 6:30 p.m.
Bandera at Wimberley, 6:30 p.m.
Cedar Park at Liberty Hill, 6:30 p.m.
Westwood at Round Rock, 6:30 p.m.
McCallum at LASA, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: High school volleyball: Key matches on tap in 25-6A, 25-4A and 26-6A
