Stratford vs. Memorial – Top Performers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high school volleyball regular season is nearly over 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.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Friday, October 21, I witnessed a very special night at the Stratford High School in Houston, where the Spartans (31-11) faces their rivals Memorial Mustangs (16-28) in their last home match of the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The hosts entered the match as the Conference 6A - District 17 champions and remained undefeated (13-0) in district play on their senior night with a sweep (25-18, 25-12, 25-18), their second in the season, of the Mustangs (5-8), who are now eliminated from playoff contention.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/grtorres/status/1583617468047978496?s=20u0026t=ft0zFfVz3T_nYhxkJMEdQg","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/grtorres/status/1583617468047978496?s=20&amp;t=ft0zFfVz3T_nYhxkJMEdQg </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>Top Performers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63536023bf086","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["176640"],"_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":"Stratford's talismanic outside hitter had an excellent last match in the gym she's played at such a high level for the most part of the last four years. George was tremendously consistent throughout the match, keeping her side out steady and scoring in difficult situations and key moments. She was pretty resourceful on offense and brought set one to an end with a ridiculous roll shot from the backcourt. The outside hitter also tallied quite a few digs and fired an ace in a important moment early in set three, when Memorial still maintained hopes of extending the match.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/grtorres/status/1583604203963883520?s=20u0026t=ft0zFfVz3T_nYhxkJMEdQg","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/grtorres/status/1583604203963883520?s=20&amp;t=ft0zFfVz3T_nYhxkJMEdQg </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63536122bf087","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["176727"],"_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":"Stratford's towering middle blocker had a great night, strongly winning the battle in the middle and dominating the net for the Spartans. McClintock was on fire offensively and converted the vast majority of her swings into points. Her ability to hit a very quick set down the middle with impressive power proved to be too much for the Mustangs, who had no answer for her all match. She also got her block going on set two and got several stops before the end of the match.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63536222bf088","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["87582"],"_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 libero had another excellent night, repeating what she's been doing for the entire season. She was very reliable with her passing, freeing her hitter to focus on offense, and also did a great job playing defense, be it when dealing with hard-driven hits or sets. Abbott, who filled in as a setter occasionally last season, also did well when she had to set the hitter up at the net. She had some good serving runs, most notably on set one.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63536424bf089","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":"Sophie Harlan","_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":"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":"Memorial","_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":"Memorial's heavy hitter had a solid night offensively and was probably the only hitter in the team to maintain a good level of consistency throughout the entire match. With her size and physical power, Harlan was well-equipped to overcome Stratford's big block, but she was also smart enough to go around it in transition and kept finding ways to remain efficient all night. She also did a fine job on the backcourt, with consistency in her passing and good defensive actions.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_635366d9bf08a","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":"Jordan Heath","_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":"32561","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Memorial","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_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":"Memorial's starting setter probably did the best she could on a complicated night for her team. She was very intelligent with her ball distribution, using all the weapons she had, and precise with her locations, while also being pragmatic enough to stick with the best options at each moment of the match. Heath had a good serving run on set two and got some good digs on the right.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview"} /-->