East Central, Highlands qualify for playoffs; nine potential qualifiers remain
TEAMS INCLUDED: Brackenridge, East Central, Edison, Harlandale, Highlands, Holy Cross, Jefferson, Lanier, Memorial, Providence, Southwest, Young Women’s Leadership Academy.
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Edison is hoping to boldly go to the destination two other area teams reached last Friday. After splitting a pair of matches last week, though, that may require winning each of their last three remaining contests – a tall order indeed.
The fifth-place Golden Bears (11-24, 7-6) kept themselves on course for the playoffs Oct. 15 with a 25-7, 25-15, 25-7 District 28-4A win at Lanier (8-22, 5-9). However, their mission became a little more arduous last Friday when they lost 25-23, 25-16, 27-25 to Jefferson (21-10, 9-4), which shares third place with Brackenridge (13-23, 9-4).
“One game at a time,” third-year Edison coach Maricela Quesada said. “We have to just focus on that and keep winning. We have to take it one game at a time.”
East Central (19-14, 6-1) and Highlands (19-19, 12-2) became the first two area teams to clinch playoff berths last Friday.
Edison is one of nine playoff hopefuls that hope to make the cut by the end of the regular season next Tuesday. The others are Brackenridge, Harlandale (21-10, 7-3), Holy Cross (27-11, 5-4), Jefferson, McCollum (10-11, 5-6), Providence (12-18, 4-6), Sam Houston (20-11, 4-3) and Southwest (14-23, 3-4).
Jefferson was led by 12 kills and seven digs from Courtney Garcia. Melanie Sheppard recorded seven blocks. Selena Garcia distributed 12 assists.
The Golden Bears received 10 kills from senior Karen Guerrero and 20 digs from Juanita Gomez. Freshman Marissa Cortinas dealt 15 assists. Kalani Wood made four blocks.
“We’ve been working a lot on defense,” Quesada said. “To me, defense wins games. I only had two returning seniors, so we’ve improved a lot since the beginning of the year.”
Against Lanier, Gomez led the Golden Bears’ defense with nine digs. Cortinas supplied 14 assists and five kills. Guerrero contributed nine kills, seven digs and three aces. Lauren Gutierrez added nine assists.
“I feel like we started really, really strong,” Guerrero said. “Everybody was really on their game. Everybody was contributing. We were really focused on what we had to do.”
Injury-plagued Lanier, which was eliminated from playoff consideration, was led by three blocks from LeeAnna Martinez. Sarah Chavez chipped in with four digs and three assists.
The Golden Bears were scheduled to play Burbank (8-22, 3-10) Tuesday. Friday, they’ll play host to district-leading and state-ranked Brennan (31-4, 13-0) in a 7:30 p.m. match. Edison will close its 28-4A season next Tuesday at Fox Tech (10-31, 2-2).
Highlands d. YWLA
Second-place Highlands won its fourth-consecutive match last Friday defeating Young Women’s Leadership Academy (2-29, 0-12) 35-26, 25-6, 25-16 at Lanier and qualifying for the playoffs out of 28-4A in the process.
The Owls had defeated Brackenridge 25-16, 25-20, 14-25, 22-25,15-8 Oct. 15 at Highlands.
Against YWLA, Jenna Thompson led the way with six kills and three aces. Bryten Mitchan also recorded six kills. Analisa Garza distributed 16 assists. Jessica Alvarez added 12 digs.
YWLA was led by Sabrina Cantu with seven kills and two blocks. Alejandra Ramirez made 13 digs. Karease Williams dealt nine assists.
East Central d. Southwest
The second-place Hornets swept fourth-place Southwest for the second time this season 25-12, 25-13, 25-17 to clinch a playoff spot in District 28-5A last Friday.
Kaylin Mills served a whopping 12 aces to lead East Central. Madison Simon contributed eight digs and eight kills. Brandi Campos produced a team-high 17 digs. Alex Pena was the assist leader with 16.
Leaders for Southwest were senior Elizabeth Phillips with 23 digs, senior Kamerie Vidales with 12 kills and Yasmin Garcia with 15 assists.
East Central also defeated Corpus Christi Carroll (16-13, 4-3) 28-26, 25-19, 25-15 Oct. 15 in Corpus Christi.
Jefferson d. Edison
The Mustangs (21-10, 9-4) kept pace with Brackenridge (13-23, 9-4) to remain in a third-place tie in District 28-4A. Jefferson defeated fifth-place Edison (11-24, 7-6) 25-23, 25-16, 27-25 to Jefferson (21-10, 9-4), which shares third place with Brackenridge .
Jefferson was led by 12 kills and seven digs from Courtney Garcia in its second win over Edison this season. Melanie Sheppard recorded seven blocks. Selena Garcia distributed 12 assists. Gabby Vasquez and Melanie Ybarra each served two aces.
The Golden Bears received 10 kills from senior Karen Guerrero and 20 digs from Juanita Gomez. Freshman Marissa Cortinas dealt 15 assists. Kalani Wood made four blocks.
Harlandale d. Memorial
The Indians (22-10, 8-3) maintained a tie for third-place by winning a District 29-4A match 25-8, 25-18, 25-23 over Memorial (11-23, 2-9) Friday at Edgewood Gym.
Harlandale received eight kills from Katie Neira. Erika Arredondo each served five aces. Catherine Silva and Alicia Garcia each contributed five digs. Madeline Mendez made three blocks.
Memorial senior Jatziry Duarte recorded five digs. Sophomore Mirande Puente had team highs of four kills and three blocks.
Holy Cross d. Corpus Christi Incarnate Word
The Knights (27-11, 5-4) won a hard-fought TAPPS District 3-4A match against Corpus Christi Incarnate Word. They lost the first game 25-12, but came back to win 25-15, 25-20, 25-21 Thursday.
Mallory Ozuna distributed 32 assists and served three aces. Erin Torralva also served three aces. Victoria Gonzalez and Anna Zuniga each made three blocks. Gonzalez also finished with 10 kills.
Senior Julia Ibarra led the Knights with 25 digs and Daisy Flores added 12. Freshman Henrianna Ibarra notched eight kills.
Providence d. Laredo St. Augustine
The Provets (12-19, 4-7) swept Corpus Christi Incarnate Word 25-14, 25-17, 25-20 in a TAPPS District 2-5A match Saturday at Providence.
Sabrina Casares and Logan Glick each supplied 13 assists. kills. Senor Davion Turella made four blocks. Juliet Alanis and Gabby Mitchell each served four aces. Alanis also recorded eight digs.
Sam Houston d. Hawkins
The Hurricanes (20-11, 4-3) moved into a third-place tie with Pleasanton, whom they play Tuesday, by defeating Hawkins (0-7 in district) 25-15, 25-14, 25-12 Friday at Hawkins in 28-3A match.
Karisma Mitchell led Sam Houston with six kills and six aces. Chardonnay Green chipped in with six digs. Rita Davis dealt 16 assists.
Brackenridge d. Lanier
The Eagles (13-23, 9-4) defeated the Voks (8-22, 5-9) 25-20, 25-23, 25-17 last Friday at Brackenridge.
Jolicia Shelton-Brown led the Eagles with 13 kills and eight digs. Darlene Jackson contributed nine kills,11 digs and two blocks. Miranda Flores distributed 26 assists and made seven digs. Kathy Sifuentes provided 13 digs and Dominique Ramirez added seven. Jacklynn Nevarez made nine digs and served three aces. Sophomore Skyler Reyna added four kills and four digs.
Lanier statistics were not available.
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