Playoff Match to Watch: A&M Consolidated vs Bastrop

<p>It’s time! The high school volleyball season enters a pivotal moment in the state of Texas with the playoffs going at full pace and the State Championship quickly approaching and us, at Prep Dig, will be following all the action just like you.</p> <p>After nearly three months of regular season, only the best teams of each district remain in contention and from now on, there’s no more room for errors as a setback will mean the end of the season and, for the many seniors, spread across the Lone Star state, the ending point of their high school careers.</p> <p>This week started with the bi-district matches and now it’s time for the area matchups. As we’ve done the entire season, we’ll use this space to recommend a match to watch every day of action.</p> <p>This Class 5A matchup between A&amp;M Consolidated and Bastrop is a great option for Saturday, November 6:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>A&amp;M Consolidated vs Bastrop – 2pm</strong></p> <p>The Lady Tigers from the A&amp;M Consolidated High School from College Station arrive to this meeting with a 28-16 win record in the season. The team finished second in the Region III, District 19 with a campaign of 12 wins and four losses and took Kingwood Park down in three sets in the bi-district match. The Lady Bears from the Bastrop High School made history with their 3-1 victory over Anderson in the bi-district, the first playoff triumph in school history. The team holds a 21-22 win record for the season and was fourth on Region III, District 18 with eight wins and six losses.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Players to Watch – A&amp;M Consolidated</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="140398" first="Ava" last="Derbes"] – Right Sider – Club: Woodlands Revolution - 2022</strong></p> <p>An extremely versatile who sets, hits and plays great defense, [player_tooltip player_id="140398" first="Ava" last="Derbes"] is the centerpiece of A&amp;M Consolidated’s playing system. A six-footer, she has the size, the skills and the volleyball IQ to be a phenomenal all-around player and that’s exactly what she’s been doing for the Lady Tigers in her senior year. Derbes leads the team in kills (439) and ranks second in assists (547) and digs (354) and third in blocks (57) and aces (44). Ranked 88^th in our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings, she committed to Tulane University.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13159098/6126a440d21b5205184349d7" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gracen Harrell – Libero – Club: Aggie Elite - 2022</strong></p> <p>Gracen Harrell is another senior who’s putting up some monster numbers in her final season of high school volleyball. The 5’6” libero has been great in leading A&amp;M Consolidated’s backcourt and is one of the reasons of the team’s success. Harrell has surpassed 1,000 digs and passes in her career and is currently at 740 defenses and 519 passes this season alone. She has produced in double digits in both skills in the vast majority of the team’s matches this season and still added 28 aces.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/11835261/611d63e2c11a3a058c23f5f4" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Players to Watch – Bastrop</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87581" first="Emma" last="Patmon"] – Outside Hitter – Club: Austin Skyline – 2023</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87581" first="Emma" last="Patmon"] has the perfect combination of physical power and technique when it comes to volleyball. Watching her play, it’s hard to notice that she’s a little undersized for her outside hitter role at 5’8” because of her tremendous leaping ability, developed on her work as a track student-athlete, and the impressive amount of power she can put on the ball when hitting. Her backcourt game is also excellent, making of her a highly-coveted prospect who can play as a big at the net and as a small on passing/defending. Her stats this season, her first with Bastrop, have been unbelievable as she leads the team in kills (468) and is second in aces (91), digs (436) and passes (758) and third in blocks (22). Patmon ranks 26^th in our 2023 Prep Dig State Rankings.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16358965/611d784023517d0b5070a931" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87563" first="Crystal" last="Creek"] – Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker – Club: Austin Juniors – 2023</strong></p> <p>A middle blocker turned into outside hitter, [player_tooltip player_id="87563" first="Crystal" last="Creek"] has been able to transfer the physicality needed in her previous position to her new one. She’s a very aggressive and explosive hitter at the pin, but the 5’11” Creek has also proven to have the skillset needed to succeed in her new role, strongly contributing to Bastrop in several areas of the game. Ranked 31^st in our 2023 Prep Dig State Rankings, she leads the Lady Bears in aces (92) and ranks second in kills (437) and blocks (29) and third in digs (400) and passes (736).</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13021994/6178d0adf560280ae0266fec" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>