State (and Houston) elite are hitting playoff stride

By Scott White
Editor
LoneStarVolleyball.com

The start of the UIL playoffs are just over a week away and you can tell the state's top teams are getting in gear as they all blew out their opponents over the weekend. And that includes the Houston teams ranked highest in LoneStarVolleyball.com's Texas Top 20.

Megan Pendergast had 16 kills, two blocks, two aces and five digs while Madeline Gaffney added seven kills and three blocks in #5 Clear Creek;s pounding of Alvin, 25-14, 25-11, 25-13. Becky Bekelja, who had 36 assists, took advantage of her many weapons, including Taylor Smith, who delivered 5 more kills. Libero Haley Jacobs, one of the state's best, led the defense with 10 digs.

Pearland, meanwhile, swept Deer Park 25-22, 25-11, 25-21 to clinch the 22-5A championship. The good news for the #8 Oilers was that Malorie Pardo, who had suffered a second degree sprain, was on the court and had 10 kills.

Desiree Elliott and Alex Schneider each had eight kills as #9 Cy Woods improved to 32-3 with a 25-11, 26-24, 25-22 win over Langham Creek.

And once again it was talented, young Katie Messing leading the offensive charge with 12 kills as #11 The Woodlands blew past Lufkin 25-10, 25-8, 25-8. Katie had plenty of help with Lauren Conrad leading the defensive effort with six digs, Mary McNamara handing out 15 assists and Sarah Sanchez throwing up four blocks.

Regular season action concludes this week and then the action starts heating up with some terrific warm-up matches on tap at the end of the week. Then the real fun begins. The Houston playoff scene should be a wild one this year. And we'll have it covered here and on LoneStarVolleyball.com

Posted by Scott White  at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)