State Tournament Top Performers – Day 2

Prep Dig Kansas covers live summer event in Topeka.

Guilherme Torres November 18, 2021 @ 09:50 PM

The University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Tournament completed its second day of action on Thursday and now four of the six divisions have already kicked off their tournaments at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. Fayetteville were the first to be crowned champions with their victory at the 1A division. The second day of the day also saw Gunter and Bushland move the State Tournament match on class 3A and Celina and Decatur do the same on division 4A. Here’s a summary of what happened in all five matches of the day and our appreciation for the top performers of the second day of competition.   1A Fayetteville 3-0 Blum (25-15, 25-23, 25-22) Fayetteville made the most of their first trip to the State Tournament, taking down Blum to lift the trophy. The Lady Lions benefited from a tremendous performance from star junior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="87567" first="Brooklyn" last="Jaeger"], Texas’ top scorer this season, to beat the Lady Bears. Jaeger registered a jaw-dropping 40 kills for Fayetteville, leaving just five points in that department to be scored by a teammate, sophomore outside hitter Kayme Schley. They were also the champions’ top defenders, with 15 and 12 sigs. Senior setter Mattie Konvicka was also in great form, handing out 40 assists. On Blum’s side, sophomore middle blocker Addison Willingham was the top producer with 13 kills and a block.   3A Gunter 3-0 Lorena (25-17, 25-17, 25-13) Gunter moved past last year’s semifinal appearance with a straight-set victory that ended Lorena’s 19-match winning streak. The team was vastly superior on offense, scoring 44 points in kills to their opponents’ 27. Junior middle blockers Hanna Rubis and Miranda Putnicki led the way with 18 (15 kills, three blocks) and 14 points (ten kills, four blocks), respectively. Lorena’s outside hitter Abbie Tuyo was the team’s leading scorer with 13 points (12 kills, one block), while fellow senior Meg Kucera led the match in assists with 21.   Bushland 3-0 Columbus (25-16, 25-11, 25-17) Bushland have Columbus a masterclass at the net, strongly outscoring their opponents in kills (45-13) and blocks (7-0) to get just one win away from back-to-back titles in the division. The Falcons concentrated their offense in three juniors with Emma Troxell scoring 18 points (14 kills, four blocks), Madyson Eberly 14 (11 kills, three blocks) and Kaela Neie 13 (12 kills, one block). Junior middle blocker Ember Mandola performed well in a tough match for the Cardinals with six kills and one block.   4A Celina 3-0 Needville (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) Offense was the main difference in Celina’s 3-0 victory over Needville that pushed the Bobcats to the State Tournament final with the unbelievable record of 42 wins and just only lost as the winners outscored their opponents 45-29 in that department. The winner had four players registering nine or more kills in senior outside hitter Lexi Manning (14 points, all in kills), senior right sider Megan Hodges (10 kills, two blocks, 21 assists) and sophomores Aubrey Lambert and Ryan McCoy (nine kills each). Senior outside hitter Alyssa Edwards stood out in Needville’s side with 10 kills, one ace and 19 digs.   Decatur 3-0 Bellville (25-15, 25-12, 25-18) Defending champions Decatur moved on with a dominant performance over Bellville, being especially dominant on the offense (44 to 28 kills). The reigning champions got a lot from their seniors, most notably outside hitter seniors [player_tooltip player_id="119916" first="Jentry" last="Lamirand"] (17 kills, four blocks), middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id="99503" first="Dakota" last="Hartman"] (13 kills, one block) and setter Bayli Miller (34 assists, four aces). On Bellville’s side, senior outside hitter Lexi Higgins (14 kills) and senior right sider Maddie Morgan (nine kills, ten assists, ten digs) were the ones who delivered the most.