UIL 5A State Championship Update

Lovejoy vs Fulshear for the State Championship. Before the season began, these two teams were picked to represent their respective regions in 5A. Both have amazing lineups across the board. They have everything that a championship team needs to make it to the dance. Fulshear came in to the championship match with a 25-4 overall record. Lovejoy owned an unblemished overall record of 25-0. The only thing that Lovejoy had over Fulshear is probably the most important intangible….experience. They are the defending UIL 5A State Champs.   Fulshear played a great match and their three stars [player_tooltip player_id="87392" first="Ellie" last="Echter"], [player_tooltip player_id="87469" first="Brielle" last="Warren"], and [player_tooltip player_id="87472" first="Alexis" last="Dacosta"] did everything they could to stay competitive. Ellie had 11 kills, Brielle had 10 kills and Alexis had 7 kills. However, The potent lineup of Lucas Lovejoy proved to be too much for Fulshear to handle. Just as they have been doing all year long with most of their opponents, Lovejoy swept Fulshear 25-14, 25-17, 25-22.   The following players received All Tournament honors from UIL at the State Tournament. <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="87389" first="Averi" last="Carlson"] - Junior - Lovejoy</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="118716" first="Lexie" last="Collins"] - Senior - Lovejoy</li> <li>Ellie Jonke - Senior - Lovejoy</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="87400" first="Callie" last="Kemohah"] - Senior - Lovejoy</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="87392" first="Ellie" last="Echter"] - Senior – Fulshear</li> </ul> Championship Match Most Valuable Player <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="87413" first="Cecily" last="Bramschreiber"] - Senior – Lovejoy</li> </ul> I wrote this before the season began. Everything pointed to Fulshear and Lovejoy meeting in the finals. “They are the Defending 5A State Champions and other schools are going to have to pry the trophy out of their dying hands if they want to take it away from them. These Queens of the Court return a murder’s row lineup that has all of the tools to repeat. In my opinion, the only team that will give them a challenge will be region 3 Lamar Fulshear. But for now, the Leopards will have a chance to run the table with the team they bring back to the court this year.” We have written about these players before and here is a little from our recent articles about them if you need to remember who they are: [player_tooltip player_id="87400" first="Callie" last="Kemohah"][2021] 5-6 Libero (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Texas Advantage/Verbal: Oklahoma) Callie comes in as the 9th ranked prospect in her 2021 class according to our State Rankings. Her resume is littered with accolades from almost every volleyball publication there is. Even as a young 14/15 year old player she helped her team win an Open National Championship at USA Volleyball Nationals. That success has not stopped. She is one reason her Lovejoy high school program has also enjoyed success like winning the 6A State Championship last year. She is the top libero for one of the best high school programs and one of the best club programs in the country. I think its safe to say she’s pretty good. This is why she will star for Oklahoma in a few years in the Big 12 conference. Get to know her name if you don’t know it already. She is a dominant force in the back row. Being a true coach at heart, I personally love the way she holds her form after contact in both serve receive and while digging. It is textbook technique. She has been trained very well at TAV. She is still such a joy to watch on the court. She is a prototypical libero who moves so fluid on the court. I love watching her ball control and soft contact with hard driven attacks. She plays with a lot of fire and her teammates love her. She is a fantastic leader for her high school program and we can’t wait to watch her aim for a second title in a row.” Callie has been dominant all year long. In the Championship match, she had 16 digs to lead the defense for Lovejoy. There is a reason that we just named her the best libero in the 2021 class in the great state of Texas. She just showed everyone on the biggest stage there is for High School that she is indeed the best Libero in the state.   [player_tooltip player_id="87413" first="Cecily" last="Bramschreiber"] [2021] 5-8 Outside (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Madfrog/Verbal: TCU) Cecily comes in ranked 25th overall on our Prep Dig Rankings for the 2021 class. She is verbally committed to TCU and will join a loaded class that will continue their winning tradition. "She is a very gifted six rotation outside who has such a scorer’s mentality. She has every shot imaginable for an outside and regularly runs different tempos all along the net at every position. She scores at will due to her unique ability to disguise her shots. She jumps well and has great hang-time, which allows her to change up her shot mid air. This in itself is so hard to defend and her opponents are always caught off guard by it. She has a cannon for an arm but at the snap of a finger can disguise an off-speed shot as a hard driven swing. Whens he does this, her opponents have no chance at picking it up. Her club team regularly goes to her in the back row to attack and she scores at a very high clip. Stay tuned as her Lovejoy team will definitely have a say in who goes deep in the state playoffs this coming year. She will likely lead the team in kills again this coming season and is a joy to watch. Her ability to score so easily on the pins is what will keep this team in the hunt come playoff time." Cecily had 13 kills on 33 total attempts, 9 digs and 3 blocks as it was a heavy dose of her to win the title. She was named MVP of the match as she dominated on both ends of the floor for Lovejoy.   [player_tooltip player_id="87450" first="Grace" last="McLaughlin"] [2021] 5-9 Right Side (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/ Verbal: Houston Baptist) Grace is ranked as the 72nd best player in the 2021 class according to our State Rankings. “This young lady is small for a right side but don’t tell her that because she plays very big. She is equipped with a super solid arm that scores at a very high clip. She is a joy to watch in the front row and especially in the back row. She is not scared to get dirty and be all over the floor. She is the type of player that does whatever it takes to get the ball up. You can tell that she plays with such tenacity in every aspect of the game. She is committed to HBU and will give them a much needed lift in their program just by the way she plays the game. She has a great touch on the ball in serve receive and in digging. We have her ranked not because of her ability to be just a right side, but because of her versatility. She is a setter also. She has a great feel for the position on the right side of the court and is able to deliver a very good ball to her hitters from all areas on the court. It is difficult to play one position in the amazing sport…but this young lady, in my opinion, could play any position you put her in. It is because of this, I ranked her in the State Rankings. We know she will do great things for her Lovejoy program in her senior season.“ Grace contributed on the defensive end with 10 digs to help Lovejoy win the state title in back to back years.   [player_tooltip player_id="87436" first="Kylee" last="Fitzsimmons"] [2021] 5-11 Outside (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Madfrog/ Verbal: Arizona {Beach}) Kylee is ranked as the 54th best player in the 2021 class according to our State Rankings. "Kylee is one of the recent indoor players to make the transition to the outdoor circuit. She has committed to playing beach at Arizona University. It takes a special player to transition to the beach game from the indoor game. They are two totally different beasts. Kylee has shown some very impressive ball control skills both in attacking and in the back row that will translate very well to the collegiate beach scene. She has done very well during last year’s Texas Beach Volleyball Tour and earned a lot of points to be ranked very high in the standings. Watching her during indoor, you can see that her ability to dig hard driven balls in middle back with such ease will help her against the great competition that the college game will put her up against. She has the soft touch on her digs that is necessary on the sand. The one aspect that stands out in the backrow is her ability to change direction with the snap of a finger during out of system or with balls that are deflected by others. She has great dexterity and will absolutely excel in the sand." Kylee had 1 kill in the title game and also 5 digs to help her school earn back to back championships.   [player_tooltip player_id="118716" first="Lexie" last="Collins"] [2021] 6-1 Middle (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Madfrog/Verbal: Wyoming) Lexie is currently ranked as the 85th top player in our 2021 State Rankings. She is committed to Wyoming and will join them next season. “Miss Collins plays very big at the net and is a fantastic defensive stopper. With a setter like [player_tooltip player_id="87389" first="Averi" last="Carlson"] delivering the ball it makes it easier, but Lexie does the rest and puts the ball down with ease to either corner of the court. She is a great addition to their weaponry and takes a lot of the pressure off of the rest of the hitters as she scores at a high efficiency. Her blocking is what stands out the most when you watch her play. She does a great job of holding her hands high and presses so well to seal the net. She will be a big reason why Lovejoy has a chance to repeat as champions this season. We are looking forward to watching her dominate at the net this season.” Miss Collins had 7 kills on 16 attempts and helped on the defensive side with 4 blocks to shut down the great Fulshear offense.   [player_tooltip player_id="87389" first="Averi" last="Carlson"] [2022] 6-0 Setter (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/ Verbal: Oklahoma) Averi needs no introduction to anyone who follows high school volleyball. We now have this young lady is now ranked as the best high school prospect in the state of Texas according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. “Former national sophomore of the year according to Prepvolleyball.com is no stranger to success. Her lengthy frame allows her to be extremely deceptive when deciding to push the ball in front or behind her. She is such a gifted setter with extremely soft hands that led her high school team to a state title as only a Sophomore last year. This year she has her Dallas Skyline team running at a great pace against some great Texas Club competition. If you want to see a ball come off of a player’s hands smoothly, check this one out. She moves on the court as if she was born there. While it has taken a great deal of work to get to this level, she still makes everything look so easy. Oklahoma is getting one of the best setters they have ever recruited in this young lady. She will lead this program to greatness over the next few years since she is only a junior.” Averi had 3 kills, 32 assists, 4 digs and 2 blocks to help her team win the State Championship. She will look to lead this team again next season during her senior year. We are sure this will be a great one. In the meantime, we get to enjoy covering her for another club season. [player_tooltip player_id="87496" first="Ava" last="Camacho"] [2022] 5-8 Libero (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/ Verbal: UT San Antonio) Ava is currently ranked as the 28th best prospect in the state according to our State Rankings. She is a phenomenal talent in the back row. “Having played with two of the best clubs in the state of Texas over the years, Ava has definitely been tested amongst the best in the Nation. And she has not disappointed one bit. This showcases her abilities as a very well rounded volleyball player. She always seems to find herself in the right place at the right time when watching her play. This can be directly correlated to all of her experience throughout her years of playing. Serve-receive is her strong suit and she should bring that to the table while at UTSA in the coming years. When you add her to the regular rotation alongside Miss Kemohah, they add up to one of the best back row tandems in the state. Ava is a great libero who has amazing range on the court. She is able to stop on a dime and change her direction quickly to respond to an emergency. She is able to handle hard driven attacks with ease and will bring that to the table for them as the road gets tough in the playoffs. We are looking forward to covering her over the next two years.”   [player_tooltip player_id="99506" first="Rosemary" last="Archer"] [2022] 6-0 Setter/Right Side (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Texas Advantage/Verbal: Pepperdine) Rosemary is ranked as the 44th best player in the 2022 class according to our State Rankings. Rosemary is a very gifted setter from two highly touted volleyball programs in north Texas. “She plays at powerhouse high school Lovejoy and the prestigious TAV club out of Dallas. She has trained under some amazing technical trainers in her career and it shows. She has been blessed with a body frame that is tailor made for a setter. At six foot tall and having very lengthy arms, she is a coach’s dream to have as a floor general. If you mix her height with her ability to jump set her hitters, you are left with a recipe for offensive dominance. She has great location on her pin sets both in system and out of system. She is able to hit her target very consistently. While setting out of system, she loves to go against flow to keep the other team off-balance and put her hitters in a one on one situation. She is the type of setter that makes an average hitter look great because of her quick footwork getting to the ball and being in a great position to set the ball. She will be scooped up very quickly. Rosemary and Averi are an amazing tandem to have in order to control the ball for the offense. When you add her ability to swing in to the mix it makes for one very interesting option to have of offense for an already gifted team.” Miss Archer had 1 kill, 3 digs and 2 blocks to help Lovejoy claim their back to back titles.   Just like we predicted before the season began, Lucas Lovejoy was able to defend their crown. They had the perfect season and were able to hoist the trophy once again. It was a fitting send off for their wonderful seniors who have given their all for the past four years. Please help us in congratulating them on a wonderful accomplishment.   We will be publishing more articles weekly to give recognition to those teams and athletes who are playing great in their matches. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone that you think deserves to be recognized as a player of the week, feel free to send me a message with their information. Or if you have anyone that you think have what it takes to be added to our database, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for following our publication.