School is still a half-week away for most, but area high school volleyball programs are nothing short of full-blast busy.
Kilgore competed over the weekend in a tournament at Garland, was to play John Tyler Tuesday night after the print deadline for this issue of the Kilgore News Herald, and is one of several teams in the annual giant tournament at East Texas Baptist University at Marshall this weekend.
West Rusk won their own tournament over the weekend, and Leverett’s Chapel already has five wins on the season.
Kilgore: Fourth-year head coach Lacy Osborne enrolled her team in the Garland tournament with the hope of seeing competition that will help the Lady Bulldogs get better before district play starts.
They ran into some tough competition: Naaman Forest, Wylie East, Creekview, Garland, and South Garland, to be exact. Kilgore (2-4 on the season to date) lost some close matchups, but did defeat South Garland on Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday, the first day of the ETBU tournament, playing Liberty-Eylau on Friday morning at 8 a.m. at Ornelas Gym (on the ETBU campus). Kilgore will also play Redwater at 11 a.m. on Friday. When Kilgore plays the rest of the weekend will depend upon their Friday morning record.
Other teams in the tournament are Sabine, Carthage, Spring Hill, Harmony, John Tyler, Daingerfield, Queen City, Hughes Springs, Center, Waskom, Ore City, Atlanta, Gilmer, Paris, and of course, Marshall.
At Garland, some KHS players stood out. Jada Abercrombie had 27 kills and 44 digs. Dayton McElyea had 12 kills. Miah Thomas had 11 kills and three blocks. Mackenzie Cavanaugh had 49 digs and 47 service points. Shelby Page had 26 assists, and Nicki Rawls, 20.
Kilgore’s Tuesday matchup against John Tyler got moved to Tyler, so the Lady ‘Dogs’ home opener will be next Tuesday night against Sabine, starting with a freshmen game at 4:30.
Leverett’s Chapel: LC’s Lady Lions got to the gold bracket of their own tournament there at Laird Hill, losing to East Texas Christian School, 23-25, 21-25, but then bouncing back with a 25-17, 29-17 win over Hawkins for an overall third-place finish. LC is 5-2 so far on the season and plays in a tournament at West Rusk this weekend.
For LC in their own tourney, Yesenia Avalos had 15 kills and 39 digs. Jilian Shaw had 12 kills, 30 digs and two blocks. Michelle Jamaica had six aces, and Cynthia Paredes had 18 assists.
West Rusk: The Lady Raiders won their own tournament by beating Sabine in the finals, 25-18, 30-28, on Saturday. West Rusk also dealt Harmony and Huntington each a loss.
Against Sabine, WR was led by Kayla Lewis, who had 15 kills, and by Claire Nichols, who had 26 assists. Allison Bobbit had 27 digs; Nichols had 14; Brooklyn Floyd had six aces; and Chloee Tidwell had 13 digs.
The Lady Raiders will host another tournament this weekend, including LC, Hawkins, Timpson, Gladewater, Carlisle, Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill, Garrison, T.K. Gorman, Gary, Jefferson, Big Sandy, Union Grove and the Beckville junior varsity.