Jefferson, Brackenridge reserve playoff spots with 28-4A wins
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE WEEKLY VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP ON THE SOUTHSIDE REPORTER WEBSITE:
TEAMS INCLUDED: Brackenridge, Burbank, East Central, Edison, Harlandale, Highlands, Jefferson, Kennedy, Lanier, McCollum, Sam Houston, South San, Southside, Young Women’s Leadership Academy.
The craziness in in District 29-4A has reached fever pitch.
Harlandale (24-10, 10-3) defeated Southside (6-26, 2-11) 25-16, 25-13, 25-17 Friday and emerged from the match as part of a four-way tie for first place. The victory also clinched a playoff spot for the Indians.
Floresville (23-16, 10-3), Medina Valley (22-17, 10-3) and Uvalde (21-18, 10-3) are the other co-leaders. Each of those schools finishes its district season Tuesday.
Harlandale defeated Medina Valley 25-22, 25-13, 25-17 Oct. 22. The Panthers went on to defeat Floresville Friday, forcing the tie.
Against Southside at Harlandale, the Indians.were led by Sabrina Esparza (8 kills, 7 digs) and Catherine Silva (10 assists, 5 digs). Sierra Sandoval produced a team-high 12 digs. Katie Neira finished with nine kills and three aces.
Erika Arredondo contributed four kills and three blocks. Alicia Garcia added seven assists. Madaline Mendez made four kills.
Southside received seven digs from Amber Munoz and eight assists from Ariana Cisneros. Ashley Sanchez made four kills and served two aces.
Interestingly, the Cardinals are part of a three-way tie for sixth place with Kennedy (7-23, 2-11) and Memorial (11-25, 2-11).
Harlandale is one of nine area playoff qualifiers. The others are: Brackenridge, East Central, Highlands, Holy Cross (27-10, 6-3), Jefferson, Providence (12-20, 4-8), Sam Houston and Southwest (16-23, 5-4).
Jefferson d. YWLA
The Mustangs (23-10, 11-4) maintained third place in District 28-4A with a 25-10, 25-14, 25-6 win over Young Women’s Leadership Academy (2-32, 0-15) Friday at Lanier.
Jefferson was led by Selena Garcia with 20 assists. Melanie Sheppard produced seven kills. Melanie Ybarra made eight digs. Gabby Vasquez added four aces.
For YWLA, Alejandra Ramirez hustled for 20 digs. Karease Williams dealt 11 assists. Sabrina Cantu made five kills. Ashley Trevino served two aces.
Brackenridge d. Burbank
The Eagles (14-24,10-5) qualified for the playoffs and held fourth place in 28-4A by defeating rival Burbank (8-24, 3-12) 25-14, 25-13, 25-18 last Friday.
At Brackenridge, the host team received 16 assists and three aces from Kathy Sifuentes. Miranda Flores dished 20 assists and served two aces. Darlene Jackson contributed six kills, seven digs and two aces. Ana DeLeon finished with four kills. Skyler Reyna served three aces. Dominique Ramirez made five digs.
Burbank statistics were unavailable
East Central d. South San
The second-place Hornets (20-15, 7-2) bounced back from a loss to District 28-5A leader Steele to defeat South San (12-18, 0-9) 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 Friday at East Central.
Senior Madison Simon led East Central with five kills, nine digs and 3.5 blocks. Alex Pena provided seven assists and five digs. Dani Alvarez made six digs and Nichole West added five. Christie Crosper made five kills. Lindsey Lubianski had four kills and 2.5 blocks. Kaylin Mills also supplied four kills.
East Central was led by ith 16 kills, 13 digs and 1.5 blocks. Brandi Campos led the Hornets with 41 digs. Dani Alvarez provided 26 assists and
South San statistics were unavailable.
Highlands d. Lanier
The second-place Owls (20-19,13-2) assured itself of a second-place finish in District 28-4A with 25-20, 25-20, 25-10 win over Lanier Friday at Highlands.
The match completed the Voks’ season. Lanier finished 9-23 overall and 6-10 in district matches.
For Highlands, Emily Pearce turned in an outstanding overall match. The junior right-side hitter contributed 18 digs, six kills, three aces and two blocks. Jazmine Jackson pounded 14 kills and made two blocks. Jenna Thompson added six kills and five digs. Jessica Alvarez dealt 14 assists. Melody Guzman made four kills.
Lanier senior Carina Valencia, who had missed the entire season because of an injury, returned to produce 12 digs and four service aces. Roseanna Perez collected seven kills. Sarah Chavez distributed 11 assists. Yulisa Beltran, who also returned from an injury, made two blocks.
Somerset d. Sam Houston
Fourth-place Sam Houston (20-13, 4-5) lost both of the District 28-3A matches it played last week, but had enough cushion between itself and the two teams below it in the standings to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
Second-place Somerset (21-8, 7-2) won 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 at Sam Houston last Friday. Pleasanton (20-11, 5-3) broke a third-place tie with the Hurricanes by winning 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 Oct. 22.
Karisma Mitchell led the Hurricanes against Somerset with eight kills and two blocks. Tashonna Williams generated 10 digs. Rita Davis dealt nine assists. Kanika Evans was credited with two aces.
McCollum d. Kennedy
The Cowboys (6-25, 2-10) lost Game 1 to Kennedy Friday, but recovered to put the District 29-4A match away in four games. McCollum won 22-25, 25-14, 25-11, 22-18 at Edgewood Gym.
Setter Savannah Borjas led McCollum with 14 assists. Valeria Medina and Neyda Sanchez each hammered eight kills. Jasmine Cordova picked up nine digs. Abby Garza served three aces and Emily Solis added two.
For the Rockets, Ashley Garza made four kills. Clara Lopez made five digs. Omni Garcia, Angel Huron and Taylor Martinez all finished with four digs. Huron also made two blocks.
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