Playoff Top Performers – Area Round Day Two
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If the high school volleyball regular season in the state of Texas was a marathon, the playoffs are a sprint. After beginning on Thursday, the area round continues to unfold this weekend as teams continue to fight for the last…
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Continue ReadingIf the high school volleyball regular season in the state of Texas was a marathon, the playoffs are a sprint. After beginning on Thursday, the area round continues to unfold this weekend as teams continue to fight for the last regional quarterfinal spots. Some of the teams that advanced on Friday were pushed by strong individual performances from players who made a difference in the most important moment of the season.
Here are five prospects who were instrumental in their teams’ victories in the area round on Friday:
Lyric Steward Lyric Steward 5'9" Birdville | 2024 TX
Lyric Steward Lyric Steward 5'9" Birdville | 2024 TX
The athletic junior middle blocker has been in good form all season, but had her second-best offensive performance of the year in a clutch moment to help the Hawks overcome Northwest in four sets and move forward. The high-jumping Steward was unstoppable in the middle and converted 17 of her 30 swings into points, reaching a 56.7% kill percentage. Steward also had a strong blocking night, leading the team with five stuffs. She also got six digs.
Boswell’s all-around outside hitter had a tremendous performance to help the Pioneers sweep Franklin and continue to advance in the playoffs. Parrish was a consistent scorer for her team, tallying a match-high 14 kills, but also contributed in other areas of the game. Extremely technical, the outside hitter led the team’s serve-receive efforts to produce a team-high 19 passes and was also very active on defense, generating ten digs. Parrison also got a block.
Olivia Waggoner
Olivia Waggoner
Waggoner was another outside hitter to put on a great performance, which, in her case, helped Bridgeland down Grand Oaks in five sets with a 16-14 victory in the tie-breaker. The 5’11” outside hitter proved to be a key piece for the Bears on both sides of the ball and that showed once again in the area round, with her outstanding production of 23 kills, 34 passes, nine digs and one block.
Caroline Adams
Caroline Adams
A freshman, Adams was getting significantly more playing time with Friendswood as the season progressed but with an injury to starter Meghan Donoughue Meghan Donoughue 5’11” | S Friendswood | 2024 State TX , she was moved into the starting lineup right before the start of the playoffs. Adams couldn’t have responded better and, after registering 40 assists in the bi-district round, she tallied another 30 in a sweep against Fort Bend Kempner in the area round. On Friday’s match, she also got six digs and four aces.
The senior middle blocker made a difference for Canyon as they overcame the always-tough Alamo Heights 3-1 in the area round. The 6’2″ middle was tremendously productive at the net, registering a match-high 21 kills as well as two blocks. Although it’s not her strength, Pope also got some touches on the backcourt, adding three digs and three passes.