Volleyball report, team of the week as Austin-area school dominate local tournaments

Nearly all local Central Texas teams were active in tournament play last weekend and there were some exceptional performances by schools including Georgetown, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Buda Johnson and Cedar Ridge.

But of course, it all starts and ends with two undefeated Austin-area programs: Drippings Springs and Liberty Hill.

Here's who those teams did and here's our team of the week:

STATE POLL, RANKINGS: 2 undefeated Central Texas team lead this week

LAST WEEK: Dripping Springs, Liberty Hill, Georgetown rise to the top of Austin-area volleyball

Dripping Springs volleyball, Liberty Hill keep rolling

Dripping Springs, Austin High and Liberty Hill all doubled up by winning their second straight tournament of the season. Dripping Springs won the 47th Annual New Braunfels Fraulein Volleyfest while Liberty Hill went long distance and captured the prestigious Glen Rose Invitational, and Austin High claimed top honors in the Pflugerville Pfest tournament.

New Braunfels Fraulein Volleyfest

2022 state champion Dripping Springs raced unbeaten through the Volleyfest, including gold bracket wins over San Antonio Reagan 25-22, 25-19 then over San Antonio Lady Bird Johnson 26-24, 25-21 in the semifinals. To take first place in convincing fashion, they El Paso Franklin 25-20, 25-13.

The Tigers were 9-0 over the three days and did not lose a set. Dripping Springs is 22-0 on the season and has only lost three sets all year. The last set the Tigers lost was in a 2-1 championship win over Argyle for first place in the  John Turner Pearland Invitational.

Two-time Statesman Player of the Year Henley Anderson was the tournament MVP for the second straight week while Callie Krueger was MVP Libero, Christa Wilburn was MVP hitter and Ashley Euston was MVP blocker. Sydney Lund and Eloise Roffers joined them as all tournament selections.

While the Tigers were making an impressive mark, Class 5A Georgetown was finishing third in the gold bracket, winning eight of nine matches. The Eagles advanced to the gold bracket and beat tournament co-host New Braunfels Canyon 25-16, 17-25, 25-18 then lost to El Paso Franklin in the semifinals 25-17, 25-18 but rallied to win third by beating Lady Bird Johnson 25-17, 25-17.

Addison Gaido was dominant offensively while Raegen Ramirez had a tremendous defensive tournament for the Eagles.  Cedar Park captured the silver bracket consolation title as the Timberwolves lost in three sets to Arlington Martin but rebounded behind all-tournament selection Joy Udoye to beat Flour Bluff 25-18, 26-24 and San Antonio Clark 14-25, 25-16, 25-23.

Westlake won the bronze bracket by beating Langham Creek 25-15, 25-23  The Chaps had beaten Lake Travis in the semifinals while Round Rock won the bronze consolation title. The Dragons lost to Langham Creek then beat Steele 25-23, 25-18 and Kerrville Tivy 25-23, 25-23.  Leander finished runner up in the copper bracket after the Lions won in semifinals but lost to Incarnate Word.  Rouse beat Westwood for copper third place.

Glen Rose Classic

Liberty Hill continued their dominance as the Panthers used the all-around play of all-tournaments selection Taylor Gaines, Annie Witt, Brooklyn Escobar and Ava Hight. The Panthers swept Monahans, Eastern Hills, North Central Academy and Denton to advance to the gold semifinals where the Panthers had a wild win over previously undefeated Wimberley 25-16, 28-26, then Liberty Hill beat Bushland in the finals 25-21, 25-21. Ranked No. 1 the state Class 5A polls after making two straight appearances in the state tournament, Liberty Hill has a serious challenge this weekend.

Wimberley had a tremendous three days in Glen Rose as the Texans swept Alvarado, Coram Deo Academy, Gunter and Ponder before running into Liberty Hill.  The Texans finished fourth after they lost to Melissa 25-19, 25-16 in the gold division third-place contest. First-year Texan head coach Misty Fletcher was pleased with the Texans performance.

"I’m extremely proud of the girls. We finished 4th out of 40 teams. Losing to Liberty Hill who is playing extremely well and to a large Melissa team who I expect will also have a great season,” Fletcher said. “Beating Canyon Randall was a good win for us; they are also a solid team. Laney Hennessey had another solid weekend. She’s playing very determined right now. Addison Parks also played well on the outside."

Rhagen Masur and Addie Laney stepped up their serve receive and looked really consistent there. Ashton Shipman had some huge serves for us. Lillian Sandoval and Cameron Thames continue to have a great presence on the right side getting us big kills when we need them. Mariah McCoy is getting better and better and establishing a big presence in the middle. Our sophomore middle Skylar Mears is really stepping up. We are happy with her quick progress and the setting duo of Skylar Herring and Carson Peoples has been fantastic. I’m proud of the team as a whole. Their energy is great and they are proving we are 14 strong. “

CHECK IT OUT: Our 2024 preseason top 50 Austin-area volleyball players list

Pflugerville Pfest Tournament

Two straight for Austin High as the Maroons, led by MVP Riley Malloy, claimed top honors in the Pfest by beating Buda Johnson 25-15, 25-16. In the gold bracket, the Maroons beat Stony Point 25-15, 26-28, 25-9 then beat San Antonio Madison in the semifinals 25-20, 18-25, 25-18.  Buda Johnson beat Burleson Centennial 25-17, 25-14 then shutdown El Paso Eastwood 25-20, 25-19 to advance to the finals. Eastwood beat Madison for third place. Joining MVP Malloy on the all-tournament team were Maroons Luthy, Camille Presley, and Claire Nelson. Nelson had nine kills in the championship match.

“The girls stuck together and had a great tournament this weekend against some good teams. I love how different players stepped up over the course of the three days,” Maroons head coach Kiley Woods said.

Cedar Ridge won the silver bracket consolation by beating Hutto 25-21, 18-25, 25-12 then beat Tomball Memorial 18-25, 25-19, 25-20. Weiss swept their way to the bronze bracket title by beating Poth 25-14, 25-10 then Brentwood Christian 25-14, 25-17 and in the finals beating Glenn 25-20, 25-10. Glenn was runner-up in bronze after beating San Antonio Southwest in two and East View 23-25, 25-14, 25-21.

Bastrop ISD Invitational

San Antonio Davenport won the tournament beating Vanderbilt Industrial in the gold finals while Bellville won the gold consolation over Geronimo Navarro. Johnson City beat St. Michael’s Academy for the silver bracket title while Del Valle lost to St. Michels in one semifinal. Hays won the silver consolation by beating Blanco.  Bastrop lost in the bronze semifinals while Little River Academy beat Cedar Creek for the Bronze consolation title.

Pfest Tournament

Ann Richards School won the copper consolation by beating LaGrange. LaGrange beat Seguin while Ann Richards beat Lockhart in the semifinals. Crockett won the consolation title over Eastside Early College.

Byron Northwest Invitational

Vandegrift and vista Ridge traveled to the Metroplex to play in the Byron Northwest Invitational. The Vandegift Vipers placed 15th after winning three of eight matches and eight of 20 sets. Vista Ridge finished 25th alps winning three of eight matches and 9 of 20 sets.

Team of the week: Liberty Hill volleyball

The Class 5A Texas Girls Coaches Association's top-ranked Panthers won the Glen Rose Invitational to improve to 20-0 on the season. Panther head coach Marie Bruce, two-time Statesman Coach of the Year, said in post-tournament celebration:

“It’s been a fight every match of the way and the girls continue to grow and want to win.  We just try to focus on one match at a time and try to get bate each day."

Previous Teams of the Week: Week 1 — Dripping Springs .

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Volleyball report, team of the week as Austin-area school dominate local tournaments