vs. Fulshear

The Lady Spartans JV Volleyball Team had not only their busiest week of volleyball this season, but were also on the road for all the games. Tuesday brought the first game of the week against a strong Fulshear team. The Spartans were coming in with a three-game winning streak; unfortunately, the girls were unable to extend that streak and lost in two to the Chargers.

KATY SUB-VARSITY TOURNAMENT

vs. Jordan

Looking to get back to their winning ways, the ladies headed to Jordan HS for the start of the Katy Sub-Varsity Tournament on Thursday and played a best out of 5 game against Jordan to decide which team would head to the gold bracket on Saturday. The Lady Spartans started off slow and put themselves in a hole early on going down 2-9 early in the first set. However, the girls did not give up and slowly battled back. With multiple kills by Sydney Hatcher and Cason Wakefield along with solid blocking by Ainsley Pine and consistent serving by Clare Townsend and Lauren Gioco, the ladies battled back to bring the game even at 15 all. After a few lead changes, the lady Spartans took the lead off a block by Hatcher to bring the score to 19-18, and though it was a battle to the end, ultimately the Lady Spartans never gave up the lead again. Ginger Koss closed out the game with a monster block and followed it with a kill for the last two points of the game, giving the Spartans the first set win at 25-23.

The ladies seemed to let down a bit after the comeback win in the first set. Solid defensive play by Kyndall Burgett and Braelyn Walla and strong setting by Braelyn Barber leading to kills by Gioco and Sofia Nikolovski were not enough to pull out the win, and the Lady Spartans lost the second set 17-25.

The Spartans came back strong in the 3rd set. Wakefield gave us the 3-0 lead off strong serves, and a kill from Hatcher brought the score to 4-2. However, Jordan battled back going on a 7-4 streak. A block by Hatcher tied the game back up at 9-9, which was followed by a block by Nikolovski to give us the 10-9 lead. The game continued to go back and forth, and neither team was ever more than 2 points ahead at any time. Gioco and Hatcher had solid games at the net late in the game with multiple kills. Ultimately the Spartans won the game on a Pine block to take the 3rd set 25-23.

Much like the 2nd set, the Spartans let down in the 4th set and put themselves in a hole, going down early in the set 6-12. However, the ladies continued to battle like they have done all season and slowly but surely started to close the gap. Strong setting by Townsend and Barber allowed for strong play by Hatcher, Wakefield, and Gioco at the net. The middles also continued to play strong at the net and a kill by Myrah Howard evened out the score at 17 all. Josie Berg’s serving led the Spartans on a 4-0 run, and the ladies never gave up the lead again. Strong serves by Howard at the end and a kill by Hatcher closed out the set at 25-22, and the Spartans took the match 3-1, securing their spot in the Gold bracket on Saturday.

vs. Cy Creek

Less than 24 hours later, the ladies were back in action on Friday for their first District game against the Cy Creek Cougars. A big block by Pine and Wakefield started the game off strong, and the girls did not look back. Hatcher had a kill followed by an ace to bring the set to 8-4. Kills by Gioco, Wakefield, and Pine along with a nice put-back at the net by Howard brought the score to 16-8. A dig by Berg to save the point and ace by Gioco brought the score to 20-10. A Howard block secured the win for the Lady Spartans at 25-13.

The Cougars were not giving up, and the second set brought a bit more excitement. Nikolovski started the set off scoring the first three points off her serve, including an ace. An ace by Walla and a kill by Hatcher furthered the lead to 8-5. The Cougars went on a 4-1 run, but a kill by Nikolovski stopped the Cougars' run and the Spartans took the lead back, 10-9. Back-and-forth play by both teams kept the set close. Strong setting by Townsend leading to kills for Hatcher, Pine, and Koss brought the Spartan lead to 19-18. However, the Cougars fought back and took a 21-23 lead. The Spartans were not to be bested though - the ladies went 4-0 on the serves of Hatcher and won the set 25-23, securing their first District win.

vs. Katy Taylor

The JV Lady Spartans closed out the week on Saturday in the Gold bracket of the Katy Sub-Varsity Tournament. The first game of the day was against Katy Taylor. The Lady Spartans started off slowly and lost the first set 21-25. The girls battled back in the 2nd set taking the set 25-22. The girls came out strong in the 3rd set, but unfortunately could not close it out in the end and lost a tough one 17-15 to head to the consolation side of the bracket.

vs. Katy

The ladies were up against Katy in the 2nd game of the day. Having lost to the Tigers early in the season in three, this was a chance to get a bit of revenge. The Lady Spartans started off a bit slow early on but strong back-row defense by Caroline Heinecke and Berg allowed the Spartans to save points, and after aces by Barber and Berg, the ladies were up 14-11 midway through the set. The Tigers battled back, and the Spartans found themselves down 17-19. However, on the serving of Townsend, the ladies went on a 6-0 run to bring the score to 23-19. Two back-to-back kills for Gioco closed out the game, and we took the first set 25-20.

The girls continued to play well and came out strong in the 2nd set, going up 10-2 off a Hatcher block early in the set. Another Walla ace, and the score was 14-4. The Tigers battled back, but the Lady Spartans had control of the set and closed out the match with back-to-back kills by Gioco and Hatcher, winning 25-19. They were headed to the Consolation match against Memorial.

vs. Memorial

Unfortunately, after playing more volleyball in the past week than these girls had played all season, they did not have much left in the tank. The Lady Spartans lost in two sets to our cross-town rivals, the Memorial Mustangs. Not to worry…we still have two more District games to play against the Mustangs, and we will take our wins when it matters!