The Lady Yellowjackets showed every sign of taking their first-year head coach’s prematch advice to heart, upending Alief Taylor by 25-7, 25-13 and 25-10 scores at the AHS Competition Gym.
The victory allowed the Alvin Volleyball girls (17-22 overall) to stay on the fine tuning end entering their bi-district meeting with 24-6A Champion Clear Creek next week and also close their 23-6A slate at 6-6.
Alvin, who finished as the fourth seed from 23-6A, will face Pasadena High in warm-up match, Friday in Pasadena at 6:30 p.m., while turning their attention to the Lady Wildcats, Nov. 2 at Clear Brook High School in Friendswood. First serve for the Alvin/Creek match is also 6:30 p.m.
“Our big thing tonight was not taking any ball or any play off,” Kunefke said following the match. “We didn’t want to take anything for granted. That could make or break a set (against Creek), especially if we get caught in a tight match.
“We got to know that. That will swing momentum either way. I think they did a real good job of executing. We thought Taylor might give us some different stuff and we wanted to be prepared for whatever we might see.”
One thing the Alvin coach knows her team is looking forward to is competing in the playoffs this time around after covid derailed the Lady Jackets from taking part in the 2020 postseason. Alvin finished as the district’s third playoff seed last year.
“The girls were super positive this week with lots of energy,” Kunefke said. “They had big smiles on their faces. I think they like heading into November still having a season.”
Junior middle blocker Ana Garza paced Alvin in Tuesday’s sweep with 12 kills and 11 digs for a double double, while senior middle blocker Addison Hansen provided nine kills and five blocks. Senior setter Janey Anderson dished out 20 assists and sophomore setter Korrigan Wright added 12 assists.
Hansen immediately sparked the Lady Jackets with back-to-back kills to open the match, while the trio of Garza, sophomore middle blocker Wylie Singleton and junior outside hitter Mackenzie Strban provided hitting winners at the net to give Alvin a 14-4 cushion.
Garza and Singleton also combined for four service winners and Anderson capped things with an ace at set point.
The Lady Jackets dominated the issue even more in the second game with the hitting of Hansen, Garza and Strban paving the way for Alvin pulling away early with 16 of the 17 initial set tallies. While Taylor went out to a 3-1 edge in game three, Alvin responded with an 8-0 run with junior libero Coryn Breaux throwing in a pair of aces, as well.
Sophomore defensive specialist Ryli Oullette also came off the bench to provide a service winner and Hansen and Singleton finished off the Lady Lions with back-to-back kills.
Alvin’s opponent, Clear Creek, ran into a buzzsaw of their own Tuesday with the 22-5A Champion Manvel Lady Mavericks winning their 16th consecutive match in four sets by 25-21, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-21 scores in non-district action in Manvel.
The Lady Mavs (31-11) have another non-district match with Deer Park at home, Friday at 4:30 p.m. and will then face Port Neches-Groves in the bi-district round, Nov. 1 at Goose Creek Memorial High School in Baytown at 6:30 p.m.
Match totals for the win over the Lady Wildcats included Devyn Lewis with 15 kills, nine digs and two blocks, Mary Kate Preston with 13 kills and seven blocks, Lyric Jordan with nine kills and six blocks, Kenedy Massie with 39 assists, seven digs and three blocks and Bea Angeles with 13 digs, three assists and two aces.
Shadow Creek, who’s also headed to the playoffs as 23-6A’s third seed, swept past Hastings, Tuesday in Alief by 25-15, 25-7 and 25-14 scores.
The Lady Sharks (25-17 overall, 8-4), who will face 24-6A runner-up Clear Springs in bi-district play, Nov. 2 at Alvin High School at 5:30 p.m., were led by Dominique Phills and Aria Rideaux’s 12 kills apiece. Sarah Du dished out 21 assists and Jadyn Murry added 10 assists.
Lady Mavs move up to 19th in state poll - The Lady Mavs also moved up to 19th in the TGCA’s weekly 5A state poll.
The rankings were as follows: 1. Dallas Highland Park; 2. College Station; 3. Pflugerville Hendrickson; 4. Lucas Lovejoy; 5. Barbers Hill; 6. New Braunfels Canyon; 7. McKinney North; 8. Lufkin; 9. Frisco Reedy; 10. Gregory Portland; 11. Leander Rouse; 12. Colleyville Heritage; 13. Austin Anderson; 14. El Paso Burges; 15. Midlothian; 16. Lake Creek;17. Dripping Springs 30-15; 18. Lubbock Cooper ... Click here to read full article
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