Varsity (32-6, 9-0 in District) started the week:

• No. 3 among Houston area 6A teams by VYPE
• No. 4 in the Houston Chronicle rankings among all local 6A public schools, and
• No. 19 among Texas 6A schools in the prestigious Texas Volleyball Insiders rankings.

vs. Northbrook

First up, Tuesday Varsity hosted Northbrook, which sits winless in District play. A pair of Audrey Cook aces helped Stratford to a 7-0 lead and a Raider timeout. The Spartans continued with points from Cook, Sarah Hickman, Sophie Corbeil (including a nice dig from Emma Dunwoody), and Hailey Tacker to stretch the lead to 15-0 and another timeout. Hickman, Corbeil, Dunwoody, and Tacker continued the scoring to finish out the set 25-1.

An Audrey Hilberth slam opened the scoring in the second set. An Audrey Cook ace and a Sophie Corbeil kill forced a timeout at 10-2. Coming out of the timeout, Stratford kept the pressure up with scores by Corbeil and Addy Lanning, and several aces by Jaelyn Chen. Multiple kills by Avery Kent and Emma Dunwoody closed out the set with a score of 25-6.

The final set gave Stratford a chance to experiment with lineup variations as yet untried with Varsity this season. For the first time in their careers, Audrey Jones, a 6’2” right side hitter, lined up at setter, and Jaelyn Chen, a career setter, lined up at the right side hitter position.

Scores by Hailey Tacker, Ariel Robles, and Addy Lanning opened up a quick 9-2 lead. An Ashley Jones ace and an Audrey Hilberth kill to 13-5. Jones garnered well-earned assists setting to Hilberth, Tacker, Emma Dunwoody, and new-found attacker Jaelyn Chen. Kiki Sykes took over setting duties and provided several smooth sets to Lanning and Sophie Corbeil for scores. Chloe Nguyen closed things out at 25-10 with a well-placed service ace.

vs. Spring Woods

Varsity traveled to Spring Woods on Friday to take on the Tigers. Stratford would waste no time in taking charge of the match. The Spartans overwhelmed the Tigers with a barrage of points from Sarah Hickman, Hailey Tacker, Audrey Cook, and Sophie Corbeil to take a 19-0 lead. Scores by Addy Lanning and Emma Dunwoody helped finish off the set 25-5.

The second set was a little slower, with Varsity taking a 9-7 early lead on points from Emma Dunwoody, Audrey Hilberth, and Sophie Corbeil. From there, Izzy Rodriguez went on a 16-0 service run to close out the set 25-7. Included in the run were several kills by Hilberth, Dunwoody, Avery Kent, and Hailey Tacker, as well as FIVE! aces from Rodriguez.

Scores by Hailey Tacker and Sophie Corbeil helped open up an early 6-0 lead, and an Addy Lanning thunder shot made it 8-4. Stratford then started to experiment, with super-setter Audrey Cook taking her turn at the right side attacking position, logging a kill on a well-placed set from Kiki Sykes and recording her first block of the season on a combo block with Emma Dunwoody. Additional kills by Corbeil and Dunwoody kept the scoring going, and Lanning closed things out with her first service aces on the season.

As the final point fell, all of the Spartan Volleyball Teams rushed to gather banners, balloons, and flowers celebrating Coach Adcock’s 300th career coaching victory. Joining the Volleyball Teams in the emotional celebration were mentors and former longtime Memorial Head Coach Beth Gammill and former Spartan head coach Becky Palermo and many members of the Adcock family. The milestone was made even sweeter by the knowledge that this year’s Spartan squad remains on pace for the program’s best ever regular season record. Congrats, Coach Adcock!

This coming week, Varsity (34-6, 11-0 in District) travels to Cy Ridge on Tuesday and then visits Memorial on Friday. A victory in either of these matches would clinch a second consecutive District title. Both opponents are fighting for the final District 17 playoff spot. Both games start at 5:30 pm.

LET'S GET THIS TITLE!

This week’s stats include:

Rachel Ashby – 8 digs

Jaelyn Chen – 11 assists, 2 aces, 1 kill (.333 hitting efficiency)

Audrey Cook – 2 kills (.250 hitting efficiency), 10 aces, 7 digs, 27 assists

Sophie Corbeil – 23 kills (.553 hitting efficiency), 9 digs

Emma Dunwoody – 15 kills (.520 hitting efficiency), 11 digs

Sarah Hickman – 9 kills (.900 hitting efficiency), 3 blocks

Audrey Hilberth – 4 kills (.429 hitting efficiency), 2 aces, 1 block

Ashley Jones – 1 ace, 3 assists, 5 digs

Avery Kent – 8 kills (.500 hitting efficiency)

Addy Lanning – 6 kills (.222 hitting efficiency), 1 ace, 1 block

Chloe Nguyen – 2 assists, 7 digs

Chloe Popkin – 7 digs

Ariel Robles – 3 aces, 5 digs, 1 assist

Izzy Rodriguez – 4 aces, 20 digs, 10 assists

Kiki Sykes – 20 assists, 4 digs

Hailey Tacker – 9 kills (.400 hitting efficiency), 4 blocks