Houston Area HS Previews: 6A – District 23
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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…
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Continue ReadingThe 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.
This time we’ll feature Division 6A – District 23:
Alief Elsik
The Lady Rams ranked fifth in district 23 last season, when they won four and lost eight league matches. Productive outside hitter Nina McCoy and the solid middle blocker duo of Olivia Ikwuemesi and Kayla Mendenhall will be back to lead the team in another campaign, in which the main challenges will be replacing graduated outside hitter Timya James and setter Alexis Reyes.
Alief Hastings
The Lady Bears will certainly be looking for improvement after they finished at the bottom of district 23 in seventh place last season with their campaign of 12 losses. Dynamic outside hitter Mya Bourgeois won’t be around to help with that and the team will rely on setter Lauryn Brown, right side Heaven McKey, middle blocker Daniella Udegbunam and libero Jaleah Drummond to lead the way.
Alief Taylor
The Lady Lions ended last season in sixth place in district 23 after they won twice and lost ten matches. High-scoring outside hitters Angel Davis and Christine Doan have both graduated, as well as middle Erinn Cox, but Alief Taylor will still be able to return some important players in setter Madison Harris, outside hitter Ashlynn Hawkins and libero T’aja Hardy.
Alvin
The Yellowjackets had a campaign of six wins and losses in district 23 last season, good enough to place them in the middle of the pack in fourth place. Middle blocker Addison Hansen will be the most important absence from the team’s graduating class, but Alvin still has one of the best players in the district in Ana Garza Ana Garza 5'11" | OH Alvin | 2023 State TX , a middle blocker in the club season who plays outside hitter exceptionally well for them. Wylie Singleton can be a force in the middle, while outside hitter Mackenzie Strban is extremely well-rounded and setter Korrigan Wright does an excellent job with her ball distribution.
Dawson
Last season was a great one for the Lady Eagles as they swept the division with 12 wins in as many matches to rank at the top of district 23 and nearly made a trip to the state championship. Most of the pieces of that fantastic are gone after setter Kamryn Scroggins, outside hitter Kylie Nance, middle blocker Sydney Alexander, libero Alana Torres and defensive specialist Patience Lewis all graduated. It will be a season to see new talent emerge at Dawson and some of the most likely candidates are middle blocker Ava Kennon, outside hitters Bryce Ranney Bryce Ranney 5'10" | OH Dawson | 2023 State TX and Addison Moss and libero Carter Galley Carter Galley 5'3" | DS/L Dawson | 2023 State TX .
Pearland
The Lady Oilers had an excellent season in 2021-2022, when they won ten of their 12 league matches to rank second in district 23. They will have to work hard to repeat after their strong senior core made of outside hitter Jordan Maeker, middle blockers Avery Schwartz and Ava Scott and setter Jenna Gray graduated. Pearland has some interesting pieces to start putting a new team together, most notably right side Madie Whitehead, middle blocker Kimanni Rugley and libero Maddie Dement.
Shadow Creek
A relatively new program in district 23, the Lady Sharks did very well in 2021-2022, when they won eight of their 12 matches to rank third in the division. The team will need to replace most of its core after setter Sarah Du, outside hitters Aria Rideaux and Alana Burks, middle blocker Deja Benjamin and libero Ella Hestand graduated, but the team’s top scorers Dominique Phills Dominique Phills 5'10" | OH Dawson | 2024 State TX and middle blocker Mackenzie Collins will be back and setter Jadyn Murry continues to get better.