Lake Travis volleyball hands defending 6A champion Dripping Springs its first loss
This past weekend was another strong showing from Central Texas volleyball teams as Lake Travis won the New Braunfels Fraulein Volleyfest, Liberty Hill won the Glen Rose Invitational, Vista Ridge was the gold division runner-up in Bastrop and Hendrickson came in second at the Pflugerville VolleyPfest.
Several other area teams finished in gold brackets: Stony Point, Dripping Springs, Westlake, Rouse, Austin High, Anderson, Thrall, Weiss and Round Rock Christian.
Class 6A: Lake Travis rolls on
Fraulein Volleyfest: Lake Travis raced unbeaten through two days of pool play before facing a pair of district foes in Saturday's gold bracket. Duke signee Avery Hamlin was the tournament's MVP while Camden Besecker, Kacey Kazmierski and Carrington Jaimes were all-tournament. (Kazmierski also announced her signing with the University of North Florida.) Besecker had 13 kills, Jaimes had 10 and Hamlin seven in a win over Dripping Springs. In the finals, Adyson Davis had seven kills, Besecker had five and both Kazmierski and Hamlin had 13 assists.
Dripping Springs was led by Henley Anderson, who was named the tournament's most outstanding hitter, and all-tournament selections Presley Alford and Ashley Euston. Westlake lost to Lake Travis in the first gold bracket match, but the injury-depleted Chaps rallied to win consolation gold behind all-tournament selections Lily Davis and Reese Emerick. Davis had 85 kills in the tournament and Allie Hudgins had 65.
More: Our top 10 Central Texas volleyball teams heading into the season
Sinton Varsity Classic: Anderson (11-2) reached the semifinals and ended up beating host Sinton for third place behind all-tournament players Jazmine Gaston and Maddie Stuesser. Anderson beat Orange Grove, Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial and Sinton; its only loss was to 16-1 Mission Sharyland.
Allen Invitational: Austin High had another strong weekend, improving to 15-1 with its lone loss to eventual tournament champion Allen. Chloe Kelly led the Maroons with 36 kills while Harper Luthy added 33 and Riley Malloy notched 21. Kaela Bustamante led Austin High with 72 assists while Campbell Bartley had 57.
Bastrop ISD Tournament: Davenport edged Vista Ridge for the gold championship, but the Rangers (14-4) won eight of their nine matches. Caton Firkins (33 kills) and Sophia Ely (34) were named all-tournament.
Class 5A: Hendrickson was pfab
Pflugerville Pfest: Hendrickson topped Midland 25-22, 25-16 and then topped Tomball Memorial to reach the finals against Class 6A Katy Jordan. The Hawks got sterling setting by Morgan Warren and both Kara Wynn and Kamea Uitenham had strong finals matches, but Jordan won in a marathon match, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20. Stony Point beat Weiss and Midland to win the gold consolation.
Glen Rose Invitational: Liberty Hill claimed 16 of its 18 sets to win, including a sweep of state runner-up Bushland in the final. Wimberley also had a strong showing, losing to state-ranked Blum, Bushland and Midland Christian but beating Fort Worth Nolan, Ponder and Northern Hills.
More: From volleyball to baseball, our 10 Central Texas athletes to watch this year
Class 4A-others: Thrall, Round Rock Christian shine
Bay City Classic: Thrall won three of its five matches, beating Maypearl, Palacios and a solid Burnet team to advance to the gold bracket. The Tigers fell to Mineral Wells and Red Oak on Saturday; Burnet beat Chapel Hill, Taylor and Tidehaven, but lost to Thrall, Calhoun and Corpus Christi Calallen.
Round Rock Christian was golden: Round Rock Christian advanced to the gold bracket of the Bastrop ISD Tournament, beating Del Valle, San Antonio Taft and San Marcos on Day 1 and advancing on Day 2 to Saturday's gold bracket. They fell to Aubrey and Geronimo. Chayse Wilson led the Crusaders with 105 kills and eight aces, while Rachel Millikan added 65 kills.
Other area matches
Weiss' Takyla Brown had 39 assists, 12 digs, two aces and five kills to lead the Wolfpack past Glenn 25-20, 25-23, 25-18. Sara Randall added 22 kills and Ashley Go had 18 digs. Jesse Letts led Glenn with 13 kills, Ava Wind had 12 and Abbie Owens had 21 assists. ... Rouse beat Vandegrift 25-12, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16 behind Naara Tanco's 20 kills and Savannah Skopal's 45 assists. ... Bowie won at Hays 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 as Jazzlyn Hepburn had 11 kills and 12 digs.
Liberty Hill's Dirner stands out
Player of the week: Kealy Dirner, Liberty Hill. The senior Georgia State-bound beach volleyball standout led the Panthers (19-2) to the Glen Rose tournament championship as the event's MVP. She slammed more than 100 total kills and had more than 100 digs and has solidified the team's defense.
“Kealy has stepped up as a senior presence on the court this year," Liberty Hill coach Marie Bruce said. "She had a great summer playing beach and brings her quickness and court awareness indoors."
Cavaliers named top team
Team of the week: Lake Travis. The Cavaliers are 18-0 vs. UIL competition after winning the Fraulein Volleyfest. Lake Travis (18-2) has lost to Ursuline Academy in the Pearland tournament last week and then fell last Tuesday to nationally-ranked independent San Antonio Cornerstone Christian. In New Braunfels, the Cavaliers handed defending state champion Dripping Springs its only loss of the season. Lake Travis beat highly-regarded New Braunfels Canyon for the Volleyfest title.
— Butch Hart
Fab Fives
Class 6A
1. Lake Travis 18-2
2. Dripping Springs 20-1
3. Austin High 15-1
4. Westlake 17-3
5. Anderson 11-2
Class 5A
1. Liberty Hill 19-2
2. Hendrickson 16-4
3. Rouse 15-7
4. LASA 9-2
5. Cedar Park 12-7
Class 4A-others
1. Thrall 12-2
2. Wimberley 10-4
3. St. Michael’s 15-5
4. Brentwood Christian 12-4-1
5. Burnet 8-5
This week's matches to watch
Tuesday
Austin High at Lake Travis, 6:30 p.m.
Bowie at Westlake, 6:30 p.m.
Hendrickson at Leander, 6:30 p.m.
Keystone at Brentwood Christian, 6 p.m.
LASA Austin at Eastside Early College, 7:30 p.m.
Vista Ridge at Georgetown, 6:30 p.m.
This weekend's tournaments: The 68-team Leander Volleypalooza includes nationally-ranked Cathedral Catholic and Mater Dei of Southern California, Prestonwood Academy of Dallas as well as defending Class 6A champion Dripping Springs and Class 5A Colleyville Heritage, plus currently top-ranked Grand Oaks. Also: Smithson Valley's Texas Showdown and San Marcos' Raging Rattler Classic.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lake Travis highlights another strong weekend for area volleyball
