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Going for glory
Published November 3, 2009
Six area teams will venture into their second season in volleyball starting today and try to advance past the bi-district rounds.
Sweeny, Danbury, Alvin, Manvel, Pearland and Pearland Dawson all will put their seasons on the line.
Pearland played Baytown Lee on Monday while Danbury will get a bye in the first round.
From Class 3A, the Sweeny Lady Bulldogs (17-20), who finished third in District 26-3A, will face the District 25-3A champ La Grange Lady Leopards at 7:30 p.m. today in East Bernard. The Lady Leopards are ranked No. 22 in 3A.
“I really don’t know much about them, but I hear they are pretty tall,” Sweeny coach Jamie Lister said. “But we’ve played taller teams before, and that just means we have to work harder.”
In the last few days, the Lady Bulldogs mainly have been working on ways to score, instead of just hitting the ball away.
“We’ve been working on being smarter on the court,” Lister said. “We have also had some work on our serves and sets. We have concentrated more on our offense but we will stick with our strengths.
“On Monday, I think we had our best practice of the year,” she added. “The girls are really excited about playing tomorrow.”
Alvin (21-19) also will have a hard test in the first round after finishing fourth in District 24-5A. The Lady ’Jackets go up against District 23-5A champ Fort Bend Travis (25-14) at 6 p.m. at Hopson Fieldhouse in Missouri City.
But Alvin has some firepower of its own with Jenna Paul (309 kills) and Brooke Stitt (307) on the outside. Paul also had 134 digs and 26 aces, while Stitt finished with 129 digs and 34 aces.
Another hard-hitter for Alvin is Kailey Killingsworth (289), and she also had 85 aces to lead the team.
With so much power up front, the setter that makes it go for the Lady Yellowjackets is Shannon Kelso, who finished with 856 sets for the regular season.
Travis counters with kill leader Ashley Bannister (345), Megan McStravick (312) and Taylor Szypulski (239). McStravick had 267 digs and Bannister finished with 238 digs.
McKenzie Hail led Travis with 590 assists, 41 aces and 101 digs.
The Pearland Lady Dawson Eagles (25-19) earned their first playoff appearance as a varsity program. Now the Lady Eagles get the second-place team from District 23-4A, El Campo, after finishing third in District 24-4A. Dawson and El Campo play at 5 p.m. today at Mercer Fieldhouse in Sugar Land.
One thing head coach Lori Mclaughlin likes to do is use all of her bench during a match.
“I for sure use my bench all the time,” Mclaughlin said. “That is what is great about the depth of the team and having the players that I do. It has been beneficial in situations when someone may be a little off, and if I need to give that person a break or give the other team a different look.”
Dawson is led by kill leader Camryn Kazmierski (259), Grace Underwood (142), Mary Johnston (118) and Katie Haynie (117). Haynie led the team in assists with 501 and Olivia Underwood added 292 of her own.
Danielle Sullivan had 347 digs as the libero and Emily Malloy had 143. Sullivan also had 21 aces for the team.
Manvel (18-16) is making the playoffs for the second time in its short history. The Lady Mavericks finished fourth in District 24-4A and will face Richmond Foster. They play at 7:30 p.m. today at Mercer Fieldhouse.
Leading the way for Manvel will be juniors, outside hitter Cara Fisher and Ali Sluismans. Fisher was on last year’s playoff team for the Lady Mavericks and Sluismans is playing her first season in volleyball.
Foster went unbeaten in district play and will counter with setter Tiana Dockery, Claire Treacy and Taylor Whileyman.
Joel Luna is the sports editor for The Facts. Contact him at 979 237-0160.
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