Varsity started the week 22-6, ranked 3rd among Houston-area 6A teams by VYPE magazine. The team has finished tournament play and was set to start its defense of last year’s District 17-6A Title. Before District play would begin, Stratford hosted Kingwood on Tuesday.

vs. Kingwood

Kingwood started the match tough. While the Spartans opened up a small lead off kills by Hailey Tacker and Sarah Hickman, the team was never able to pull away. Kingwood clawed its way back, tying the set at 22 all. Faced with the prospect of dropping the opening set, Stratford scored tip kills by Ashley Jones, Gwen Koss, and Sarah Hickman to win the set.

From there, Varsity hit the accelerator and never looked back. In the second set, Stratford opened up a 6-0 lead on a great service run by Audrey Cook. A series of Gwen Koss points and Emma Dunwoody blocks had the Spartans up big at 20-4. Sophie Corbeil closed out the set 25-11 with a well-placed kill. The third set saw more of the same. With effortless setting by Audrey Cook and Kiki Sykes, Stratford hitters unleashed a barrage of kills. A pair of Addy Lanning kills brought the score to 14-4, and an Audrey Hilberth smash brought the set to 20-9. Varsity closed out the match at 25-12 with an awesome run fueled by a kill and a block by Ashley Jones and two Sophie Corbeil kills.

The rout of Kingwood completed Varsity’s Pre-District run at 23-6, the best record up to this point in memory (at least since MaxPreps started keeping track in 2007). But with District games upon us, the season starts anew, and each match takes on added importance.

vs. Cy Fair

First up in District play was the always dangerous Cy Fair, a team that has qualified for the playoffs each year since 2017. Entering the week, VYPE ranked Cy Fair 14th among Houston-area 6A teams. Cy Fair had a raucous crowd on hand to cheer on their team and give the visiting Spartans a tough environment.

Stratford controlled several early points in the first set with strong service games by Audrey Cook, Jaelyn Chen, and Gwen Koss. Emma Dunwoody wowed the crowd with a nuclear put-back to bring the first set to 19-11. The Spartans closed out the set at 25-17 with consecutive kills by Sarah Hickman and Sophie Corbeil.

Cy Fair hung tough in the second set, rallying to tie it twice at 11-11 and 21-21, before Stratford closed out the set 25-23 on an Emma Dunwoody/Addy Lanning block and a trio of kills by Chloe Popkin, Emma Dunwoody, and Ashley Jones.

The third set saw Cy Fair take a small 14-16 lead, despite a number of early kills by Gwen Koss. Midway through the set, Stratford unleashed a barrage of unanswered kills by Sarah Hickman, Chloe Popkin, and Emma Dunwoody to close out the set and win at 25-18.

Varsity (24-6 overall, 1-0 District) hosts Cy Creek at 5:30 pm on Tuesday. BE THERE! Then on Friday, Varsity travels to Northbrook for another 5:30 pm start.

This week’s stats include:
Gwen Koss - 26 kills, 26 digs
Sophie Corbeil - 15 kills, 5 digs
Sarah Hickman - 16 kills, 5 blocks
Emma Dunwoody - 15 kills, 9 blocks
Audrey Cook - 42 assists, 20 digs, 2 aces, 2 kills
Chloe Popkin - 3 aces, 10 kills, 12 digs
Ashley Jones - 8 kills, 3 blocks
Jaelyn Chen - 26 assists, 6 digs