Houston Area HS Previews: 6A – District 20

The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship (GJNC) has just ended and new national champions have just been crowned in Indianapolis, but the prep volleyball community is already looking ahead to the start of the high school season. Over the next four months, prospects will store their club team uniforms in their closets and will represent their high schools with the goal of getting to the end of the year as the new state champions. The state of Texas has one of the largest high school seasons in the entire country with the University Interscholastic League (UIL) managing a tournament for public schools that features six divisions, 192 districts and as many as 1,207 high school teams. The start date for the 2022-2023 season is August 8 and between now and then, we're previewing some of the districts located in the Houston area, highlighting their teams and most promising prospects. In today's article, we're ready to highlight Division 6A – District 20: Fort Bend Austin The Lady Bulldogs were the fourth-best team in district 20 last season, when they emerged victorious in eight of their 14 league matches. Repeating that kind of performance without last year's top scorers and outside hitters Gabby Johnson and Kemi Ikemefuna will be a challenge. For that to happen, outside hitter Carli Banks and middle blocker Rachel Pringle will need to be even more productive than they were in 2021-2022 and crafty setter Kyla Paulino will have to be even smarter with her ball distribution. Fort Bend Bush The Lady Broncos sat at the bottom of district 20 last season, when they managed to win just one of their 13 matches. The graduation of several seniors, and most notably of productive outside hitter Lauren Moore, should make things even more complicated for the team in 2022-2023. Middle blocker Chelsea Anuna and outside hitter Caitlyn Brister will be key players for Bush this season. Fort Bend Clements The Rangers amassed six wins in 16 matches last season a record that was good enough to place them in sixth place in district 20. Explosive outside hitters Kaylyn Taylor and cerebral setter Julia Liang have both graduated and will not be back in 2022-2023, but Clements has some interesting players on the rise who could make the team better such as middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id="190127" first="Kaylin" last="Daniels"], outside hitter Samantha Spitznagel, right side Abbie Bazinet and libero Ally Bernas. Fort Bend Dulles The Lady Vikings were the fifth-best team in district 20 in 2021-2022, a season in which they emerged victorious in seven of their 14 matches. Some key seniors graduated after that campaign, including setter Hannah Yu and libero Brielle Calvo, but the high-scoring outside hitter duo of [player_tooltip player_id="87561" first="Kylie" last="Mueller"] and [player_tooltip player_id="176639" first="Renata" last="Bolado"] will be back to lead the team with the help of up-and-coming middle blocker Noor Haydari. Fort Bend Elkins The Lady Knights are coming from a troubled season, in which they were only able to win a match of the 13 they played, finishing in seventh place in district 20. It doesn't help that outside hitter/right side Ashley Arnold, arguably the team's best player in 2021-2022, has graduated but Elkins an extremely promising talent to develop in middle blocker/right side Ope Aladetimi.   Fort Bend Travis The Lady Tigers were in the top half of district 20 last season as they managed to rank third with their campaign of eight wins and six losses. Three of the most influential players from last season have graduated in outside hitters Yarian Pagan and Denae Williams and middle blocker Taylor Glendening, meaning outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="153297" first="Ryan" last="Williams"] will have to remain a force, middle blocker/right side Isabella Marino will have to step up her game, libero Kynzie Lilly will need to continue doing great things on the backcourt and setter Kacy Perkins will need to lead the squad. George Ranch Few teams in the entire state saw as much talent go at the end of the 2021-2022 season as the Longhorns, who ranked second in district 20 with 12 wins and just two losses. The team will look entirely different after the graduations of setter/right side Allie Sczech, right side Logan Lednicky and outside hitter Avery Shimaitis. The Longhorns rebuild has some interesting cornerstones in the versatile [player_tooltip player_id="182109" first="Sydney" last="Bryant"], who can play anywhere at the net, reliable libero [player_tooltip player_id="200644" first="Riley" last="Steubing"] and dynamic middle blocker Stefani Ayiteyfio. Hightower The Hurricanes are a new team in the division after joining from division 5A – district 24, where they were third in 2021-2022 with a campaign of 11 wins and five losses. It will be intriguing to see how they perform in a more competitive district without outside hitter Amiley Penson and setter/right side Anaiah Jordan, who both graduated. The towering middle blocker duo of Mia Daniel and Haile Brandon, setter Carrington Archer and libero Janae Johns will form the core of the team this season. Ridge Point The Lady Panthers were one of the Houston area teams that made it to the state championship last season after a dominant performance in district 20, which saw them win all of their 14 matches. Ridge Point will be without three key players who graduated in middle blocker Alexis Roberson, setter/right side Nina Moorer and libero Nylah Raspberry, but they have plenty of young talent to remain as a force. Star outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="87531" first="Sydney" last="Jordan"] and powerful middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id="87548" first="Arissa" last="Smith"] will form the core of the team that will also feature a pair of interesting class of 2025 outside hitters in Smith's younger sister Aaliah and Kennedi Rogers and defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id="124106" first="Lauren" last="Battle"].