After capturing the Area Championship, Varsity Volleyball headed into Regional play this week with a season record of 39-2.

vs. Manvel

On Tuesday, Stratford headed to Deer Park High School to face off against Manvel. The gym may have been small by playoff standards, but both teams brought big boisterous fan bases that had the building shaking throughout the game. The energy in the stands was matched by the intensity on the court.

A Sarah Hickman kill and Audrey Cook ace opened up a brief early lead in the opening set. But the teams would trade punches, with scores being tied eight times until the teams were again knotted at 13-13. Manvel then proceeded to stretch out a lead that Stratford could not overcome. The Spartans tried to keep pace with a block by Cook and Tess Stephenson, a kill by Gwen Koss, and a Logan Sykes ace, but the Mavericks would take the set 20-25.

Drawing upon an inner calm amid the chaos, Varsity took the court determined to right the ship. Stratford jumped out to an early lead on the strength of multiple scores by Koss and Avery Kent and a crazy off-balance flick score by Cook. While Manvel would tie it up at 11 all, Stratford would make another run on the strength of scores by Cook, Koss, and Hickman that Manvel couldn’t match. After Manvel called its final timeout, Stratford closed things out at 25-16 on the strength of a flying Koss back-row kill, a Stephenson tip made possible by a Rachel Ashby acrobatic save, and a slam by Kent.

Manvel answered the challenge and took the third set 22-25. It was a set in which Stratford had control on the strength of a series of blocks by Stephenson and Milena Miladinovic and scores by Sykes, Kent, and Koss. Manvel came back to take a small lead, and while a Hickman score tied things up at 19, the Mavericks sprinted from there to 25.

Facing elimination, the Spartans came out determined in the fourth set. Points came from everywhere on the court in the form of multiple scores by Kent, Koss, Cook, Hickman, and Stephenson. A Miladinovic-Hickman combo block forced a timeout at 17-11, and a Cook ace coming out of the timeout kept the pressure at maximum. A Cook-Stephenson combo block closed out the set 25-20 and sent the match to a 5th-set tiebreaker.

Since a fifth set only goes to 15 instead of the usual 25, a fast start is vital. Cook and Stephenson picked up where they left off in the 4th set with another booming combo block to give the Spartans an opening lead. A Stephenson-Koss block extended that lead. The continued net dominance by Stephenson and Miladinovic as well as the pins Koss, Kent, and Hickman helped force hitting errors by the Mavericks. A Hickman push shot to the corner made it 9-6, and a Koss back-row roll shot added to the lead. Buoyed by body-bending defensive plays by Koss and Ashby, the Spartans were able to get a series of in-system balls late in the set to Kent, who delivered in a big way. Kent finished the set and match with FIVE clutch kills to close out the set 15-9 and take the match in 3-2 sets.

The team rushed the court and celebrated the exhausting victory. The win advanced Varsity to a Friday matchup against Shadow Creek. The Sharks finished ahead of Manvel in District 22 standings, so a challenging matchup was in store.

vs. Shadow Creek

Delmar Fieldhouse was rocking, packed with Stratford faithful enthusiastic cheerleaders as well as a number of friends and supporters from rival District 17 schools in attendance to root on the Spartans. Shadow Creek also traveled well with plenty of supporters on hand who helped keep the enthusiasm in the large arena.

A trio of kills by Kent, a Koss score, and a Stephenson slam forced an early Sharks timeout at 9-4 in the first. Shadow Creek fought their way back to tie it up mid-set, and the score would be tied several more times until the score reached 20 all. The Sharks then ran off the next five points to capture the first set 20-25.

The second set started with a dominant Shadow Creek run to put the Spartans in a deep hole early. While some in the stands might have been a bit restless, the players clearly were not concerned. Drawing again on an inner chill that has served them well the whole season, the Spartans methodically erased the Sharks’ lead until the score was tied once again at 8-8. Stratford then proceeded to outpace Shadow Creek 17-5 the rest of the way to comfortably take the second set. Starting with the tie, Stephenson and Koss ran off a series of scores. A crazy pinball-like series of saves from Koss, Sykes, and Cook set up a Koss kill to make it 16-11. Cook then followed with an ace that made the Sharks burn their last timeout. Out of the break, Cook rattled the opponents with two more aces. The last five points in particular showed the diversity of ways the Spartans could score - from a Koss tip, to a Miladinovic block, to a Kent slam where the defense was cleared out by multiple fakes, to a Hickman-Miladinovic combo block, to finally a Koss ace. An air of uncertainty crept in on the Shadow Creek side.

Stratford kept the momentum up in the third set, with a stellar dig by Ashby, setting up a Hickman score to force another early Sharks timeout at 7-2. While Shadow Creek would claw back into the set, they could never tie it up. The Spartans extended the lead to 23-18 on a Stephenson-Hickman combo block made possible by a quick-thinking kick-save by Koss. Varsity closed out the third set 25-21 on a booming hit from Stephenson.

The fourth set started out even until 8 all, when Stratford started building a lead it would not relinquish. A nifty Cook setter-dump forced one Sharks timeout at 12-8, and a series of Koss scores and a crushing hit by Stephenson forced another at 18-12. FOUR scores by Kent and a quick slide-kill by Stephenson brought us to match point. At 24-17, a Koss pass to Cook back to Koss for the slam brought the team rushing on to the court in celebration.

The win earned Stratford its first trip to State since 2003. Varsity will face off against Austin Vandegrift on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. The match will be at Rudder High School in Bryan, Texas – tickets are available HERE. A win in that match would have Stratford in the championship match Saturday at 4 pm in Garland against the winner of Byron Nelson and College Park.

What an amazing ride for this team and all who have supported it along the way! A big thank you to all who have come to the games, made banners, and offered encouragement. We would like to give a special shout out to our cheerleaders and their director Doug Dorsten. At each step along the way, they’ve brought energy to the building and waaaay out-cheered the opposing squads. It’s been a clear advantage our way and greatly appreciated and enjoyed by the team and fans alike.

We hope to see those who can make it Tuesday (and Saturday). Rise up, Spartan Nation!

And if you’d like to join in on the fun – click here to order the spirited green and white checkered overalls being sported by some of our biggest fans!