Friday’s District 25-3A matchup between stateranked Industrial and Edna treated local volleyball fans to an exciting afternoon in the Cobra Gym.
Industrial, ranked No. 15 by Texas Volleyball Insiders and No. 20 by MaxPreps, weathered Edna’s tenacious defense and walked away with a 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16 win to improve to 2-0 in district and 23-12 overall. Edna slipped to 1-1 in district and 11-17 on the season.
“I thought overall the girls played really well,” Edna coach Jenna Buzek said. “They played hard and matched intensity throughout the game. There are a couple of things we still need to get consistent on, but overall, I’m happy with their fight.”
That fight showed on defense as four Cowgirls had at least a dozen digs.
Junior Avery Garcia recorded 10 kills, 12 digs, and a block; Keira Santellana posted five aces, seven kills, two blocks, an assist and three digs; Julie Koch had 19 digs; Emersyn Duarte had five kills and a block; Kelly Laredo had an ace, a kill, seven digs, and 15 assists; Leighton Hunt had an ace, 14 digs, a kill and seven assists; Marlee Holmes had 21 digs and an assist; Mariana Ackley had two kills, a block, and a dig; Serenity Barrera had five kills and two digs; and Rihanna Woods had a kill and five blocks.
“I thought all the girls stepped up and had great moments throughout the game,” Buzek said. “I really thought our defense played a good game. The blocking at the net and the backrow defense really kept a lot of the balls in play, which is all you can ask for.”
The Cowgirls’ efforts forced Industrial to tinker with its attack.
“Every team we play presents different challenges,” Industrial coach Tara Dunn said. “Edna is scrappy on defense, so we had to mix up our offense to find ways to score. I think we did a good job of that with 45 kills in the match.”
Key to the Cobras’ attack were junior Karli Stanush and freshmen Lyla Ellison and Ava Collins.
Ellison “showed up big,” Dunn said, with 18 kills, a hitting efficiency of .357 and a serve receive rating of 2.4 to be key in the win; Collins stepped up with a double-double of 24 assists and 12 kills; and Stanush was solid with 15 kills, 20 digs, four aces, a block, and a 2.1 serve receive rating.
In addition, Clancy Kolle led the Cobras in hitting percentage with .444 and kill percentage at 44.4; Kylee Swoboda had 24 digs; Claire Karl had a setting efficiency of .313; and Madi Kubecka added a block.
The Cobras’ ability to successfully attack with multiple hitters proved too much as the match went on.
“I think Industrial moved the ball around well and kept us on our toes,” Buzek said. “I just think we need to be more prepared and ready for all the different things they have in their toolbox next time.”
Once the Cobras found their stride, they hit a different gear, Dunn said.
“Our team finally relaxed and started having fun together,” Dunn said. “It is exciting to watch them when they finally do. They become pretty amazing on the floor when they are having fun.”
The teams meet again on Oct. 7 in Edna, with the JV games at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity at 6 p.m.
*** Both teams opened District 25-3A play on Tuesday with wins.
Industrial beat Tidehaven in its district opener, winning 25-22, 25-13, 25-23.
Stanush recorded 17 kills with a .333 hitting percentage, as well as a 2.7 servereceive rating, 20 digs, and a .905 efficiency rating. Ellison had seven kills and a serve-receive rating of 2.3; Collins had a 41.7 kill percentage and 15 assists; Kolle served a pair of aces; Swoboda had 17 digs; and Karl had a .296 setting efficiency rating.
Edna beat Rice Consolidated 25-16, 25-10, 25-17 as Santellana led the way with three aces, 11 kills, three blocks, and a dig. Garcia had an ace, four kills, a block and eight digs; Duarte had eight kills and a pair of blocks; Koch had 10 digs; Laredo had two aces, seven digs, and 15 assists; Hunt had four aces, six digs, a kill, and seven assists; Holmes had seven digs and four assists; Ackley had an ace, five kills, and three digs; Barrera had three kills, a block, and a dig; and Woods had a kill and two blocks.
Ganado Maidens
The Maidens, who did not have a game on Tuesday, returned to action Friday when they traveled to Brazos for a non-district match.
Ganado lost to Brazos 25-17, 25-8, 25-6, despite the efforts of Cali Beard, who led the Maidens in scoring, hitting .600 on the match.
District Standings and Schedule District 27-2A On Tue., Sept. 16, Ganado traveled to Yorktown for a non-district game. The Maidens do not have a game scheduled for Fri., Sept. 19.
District play is scheduled to begin Tue., Sept. 23 when Ganado hosts Weimar, Flatonia hosts Shiner, and Schulenburg hosts Louise. District 25-3A According to MaxPreps, through Fri., Sept. 12’s matches, Hallettsville was first at 3-0 (17-14 overall), followed by Columbus (2-0, 24-4) and Industrial (2-0, 23-13) a half-game back in second place; Edna (1-1, 11-17) in fourth; Yoakum (0-1, 8-12) and Palacios (01, 13-8) tied for fifth; Rice Consolidated (0-2, 8-12) in seventh; and Tidehaven (03, 8-14) in eighth.
On Tue., Sept. 9, Edna beat Rice 3-0; Industrial beat Tidehaven 3-0; Colum-
see COBRAS CLAIM WIN OVER EDNA on page 12 bus beat Palacios 3-0; and Hallettsville beat Yoakum 3-2. On Thur., Sept. 11, Columbus beat Rice 3-0. On Fri., Sept. 12, Industrial beat Edna 3-1, Hallettsville beat Tidehaven 3-0, and no score was reported for the Yoakum- Palacios match.
On Tue., Sept. 16, Edna hosted Hallettsville, Industrial traveled to Columbus, Tidehaven traveled to Yoakum, and Rice Consolidated traveled to Palacios.
On Friday, Edna travels to Yoakum, Industrial hosts Palacios, Rice Consolidated travels to Hallettsville, and Columbus hosts Tidehaven.
On Tue., Sept. 23, Edna travels to Tidehaven, Industrial hosts Rice Consolidated; Yoakum travels to Columbus; and Hallettsville travels to Palacios.
State Rankings Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 2A: 1. Iola; 2. Burton; 3. Hamilton; 4. North Hopkins; 5. Windthorst; 6.
Forsan; 7. Crawford; 8.
Beckville; 9. Nocona; 10.
Johnson City; 11. Detroit; 12. Lindsay; 13. Mumford; 14. LaPryor; 15. Freer; 16.
Leon; 17. Schulenburg; 18. Tioga; 19. Rio Vista; 20.
Bremond; 21. Center Point; 22. Hawley; 23. Collinsville; 24. Ropes; 25. Hico.
Class 3A: 1. Goliad; 2.
Leonard; 3. Orange Grove; 4. Eustace; 5. Chisum; 6.
Palmer; 7. Tatum; 8. Bushland; 9. Columbus; 10.
Hebbronville; 11. Shallowater; 12. Hooks; 13. Malakoff; 14. Scurry-Rosser; 15. Denver City; 16.
Clifton; 17. Central Heights; 18. Comanche; 19. Fairfield; 20. Clyde; 21.
Crystal City; 22. Jim Ned; 23. Ingram Tom Moore; 24. Troy; 25. San Angelo Leadership Charter.
MaxPreps Class 2A: 1. Iola; 2.
Leon; 3. Burton; 4. Lindsay; 5. Hico; 6. Johnson City; 7.
Windthorst; 8. Schulenburg; 9. North Hopkins; 10.
Beckville; 11. Crawford; 12. Hamilton; 13. Detroit; 14. Nocona; 15. Forsan; 16. Hawley; 17. Weimar; 18.
Whitewright; 19. Poolville; 20. Linden-Kildare; 21.
Graford; 22. Tioga; 23. Collinsville; 24. Shiner; 25.
Wink.
Class 3A: 1. Goliad; 2.
Bushland; 3. Tatum; 4.
Boyd; 5. Columbus; 6.
Central Heights; 7. Stockdale; 8. Clifton; 9. Clyde; 10. Holliday; 11. Fairfield; 12. Wall; 13. Ponder; 14.
London; 15. Peaster; 16.
Paradise; 17. Shallowater; 18. Chisum; 19. Grandview; 20. Industrial; 21. Orange Grove; 22. Denver City; 23. San Angelo Texas Leadership Charter Academy; 24.
Jim Ned; 25. Troy.
Texas Volleyball Insider Class 2A: 1. Johnson City; 2. Crawford; 3.
Beckville; 4. Leon; 5. Burton; 6. Blum; 7. Iola; 8.
Schulenburg; 9. Nocona; 10. Wink; 11. Lindsay; 12.
Windthorst; 13. Tioga; 14.
Whitewright; 15. McMullen County.
