High School Team Feature – Friendswood Mustangs

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high school season is going at full pace in the state of Texas and every team in the state has been on the court enough times for us to have a good idea about what to expect from them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here at PrepDig, we are committed to covering and promoting as many prospects as possible, from the most popular names to the hidden gems that typically abound at the Lone Star State and during the high school season we're also doing it by featuring the teams they play at.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Every time we're at the gym, we take the time to give a good look at the teams on the court and we'll try to feature as many as possible here in this space. This time, we'll highlight the Friendswood Mustangs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>The Squad</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mustangs were able to bring back most of the squad that led the team to a 13-3 district campaign last season, with Sarah Sitton and Kate Bueche being the most notable exceptions. The team has a good mix in the squad, with seniors Cierra Pesak and Kaitlyn Gosch, juniors [player_tooltip player_id='177541' first='Meghan' last='Donoughue'] and [player_tooltip player_id='124149' first='Isabella' last='Thompson'], sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='179894' first='Sydney' last='Gibson'] and freshman Nadi'Ya Shelby all playing important roles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/FwoodVolleyball/status/1561070769618264064?s=20u0026t=v_wEZr7dYCfYGKtDmd3aHw","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/FwoodVolleyball/status/1561070769618264064?s=20&amp;t=v_wEZr7dYCfYGKtDmd3aHw </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>Key Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63471638ca182","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["179894"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Gibson emerged as one of the top six-rotation outside hitters in the class of 2025 and grew into a significantly larger role with the Mustangs last season. Also a standout beach volleyball player, she masters every aspect of the game and impacts the game in a lot of different ways. Her passing is excellent, which gives her the ability to split the court with Pesak and her offense is very solid too. Friendswood top scorer, Gibson makes great decisions at the net, siding out at a high rate and rarely making mistakes.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"id":"block_63471638ca183","name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15260274/60cfcf2c2aa6740568731b1d' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63471638ca184","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["177541"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Friendswood's skilled setter is the heart and soul of the team as besides running the team's offense, she's also very vocal and positive with her teammates. A lefty, Donoughue uses her excellent length extremely well on offense as she does a great job in hitting around hitters. She's very dynamic and can hit a quick set behind the setter too. When performing as a playmaker, she moves the ball around well and makes good choices with her distribution.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HflR7CoW5Jc","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HflR7CoW5Jc </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63471638ca185","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Cierra Pesak","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2023","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'8u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32926","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Friendswood","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Absolute Volleyball Academy","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Pesak has been a solid and reliable contributor to Friendswood over the years. Always very calm on the court, she's one of those liberos who will quietly put on great numbers and make their teams substantially better with little fanfarre. Pesak's personality somewhat translates into her playing style as she keeps things simple with her excellent positioning and ball control. She's always where she's supposed to be and does the little things, such as setting in transition, really well. Pesak recently surpassed 1,500 digs in her high school career.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"id":"block_63471638ca186","name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16506149/62ed93cfa681c01280e4d1a7' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63471638ca187","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["181367"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"The towering middle blocker is having a career season in 2022-2023 as she seems to have learned how to take full advantage of her massive frame at the net. Extremely long, Gotsch is very difficult to be stopped or even slowed down because of her tremendously high contact point. Blocking, however, is arguably her best skill and besides of her length, she's also very active and mobile. Gotsch has recently broken Friendswood's single-season blocking record as she reached 134 for 2022-2023 alone.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"id":"block_63471638ca188","name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/8846967/62f40a98b0233309a485586c' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63471638ca189","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Nadiya Shelby","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'0u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32564","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Friendswood","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Houston Skyline","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"A freshman, Shelby added great firepower to Friendswood's offense. She has tremendous offensive potential with good size, great jumping and a well-diversified shot selection. Her contact point is extremely high and opponents have a hard time trying to catch her up there. Shelby also has a very good block and has a lot of room for improvement on the backcourt.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"id":"block_63471638ca18a","name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14087292/632278de3449370ea43f1606' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /-->