Bridgeland vs. Cy Woods – Top Performers
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The high school volleyball regular season is nearly completed in the state of Texas as we try and be in as many matches as we can in order to bring the best coverage of the sport and all the info…
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Continue ReadingThe high school volleyball regular season is nearly completed in the state of Texas as we try and be in as many matches as we can in order to bring the best coverage of the sport and all the info on the most promising prospects of the Lone Star State to you every week.
The idea is to do things a little bit differently this year, so after every match I attend, I’ll be posting a quick article highlighting the players that stood out the most in that particular encounter.
On Tuesday, October 18, I went to the Cypress area in Houston to follow the Conference 6A – District 16 encounter between the Bridgeland Bears (35-8) and the Cy Woods Wildcats (18-17), two teams that remain above the playoff line.
The Bears, which are guaranteed in the playoffs, had no trouble sweeping (25-10, 25-13, 25-8) the Wildcats and improving their district record to 10-2, good enough for second place now. Cy Woods are fourth with a 6-6 win record and will try to secure their postseason spot in their two remaining matches.
Top Performers
Olivia Waggoner
Olivia Waggoner
The senior outside hitter remains in excellent form and had another fantastic performance against the Wildcats. Waggoner was on fire and was flawless in everything she did, leading the Bears in kills (17), digs (20) and passes (15) besides also filling the stats box with an ace and a block. She’s been as comfortable and consistent as always with her offense and has displayed great improvement with her decision-making, hitting hard when the play called for it, but also using finesse when needed. She also handled pretty well a couple of overpasses that went her way.
Lauren McIntyre
Lauren McIntyre
A libero turned into setter, McIntyre had a prolific night leading the Bears’ offense. She made the most of the fact that she had the ball in her hands the entire time and ran a dynamic system, moving her hitters around very often, and stood out with her ball distribution. She ended the match with 26 assists and had no ball handling errors. McIntyre also had some good recoveries on defense, totaling six digs, and when covering her hitters.
Grace Orlando
Grace Orlando
Bridgeland’s main defensive specialist has quietly put on a great shift against the Wildcats. Orlando came in to replace outside hitter Kennedy Kays Kennedy Kays 6’2″ | OH Bridgeland | 2023 State TX on the backcourt and significantly strengthened the team’s defensive game, sharing the court with libero Alice Volpe Alice Volpe 5’5″ | DS/L Bridgeland | 2024 State #83 Nation TX . She covered a lot of ground on serve-receive, tallying a couple of passes, and also generated six transition plays on defense. Orlando also had some good moments from the service line, especially at the start of set three, when she had a good run and fired her only ace.
Cy Woods’ main offensive player, Schaper was the only player in the team to side out at a decent rate throughout the entire match. Because of that, she was set very often and, at times, overloaded, getting set on the backcourt when the team was out-of-system. She displayed a good mix of power plays and smart ones and bailed the team out of some difficult situations. Schaper also had a little bit of a good serving run going on set one and got to dig some balls.
Madison Presley Madison Presley 5'9" Cypress Woods | 2024 TX
Madison Presley Madison Presley 5'9" Cypress Woods | 2024 TX
In a night in which basically every Bridgeland hitter had a kill rate above 40%, Presley was the only Wildcat to offer some sort of resistance at the net. With her great mobility, she got a couple of blocks and touched on some more balls, making life difficult for her opponents. Presley also tried to help on offense and, although she did a good job in avoiding the blockers in her swings, most of them were dug by Bridgeland’s defenders.