2023 Houston Area HS Previews: 6A - District 19

<p>The club volleyball season has come to an end in great style, with the best teams in the country battling at the 2023 USAV Girls Junior National Championship, in Chicago, between the end of June and the start of July.</p>   <p>The top talent in the state of Texas won't have much time off the court, however, as they are now gearing up to represent their high schools in the upcoming season, with the first non-district matches set to happen on August 4 and district play starting from August 22.</p>   <p>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.</p>   <p>Prep Dig will be following all the action, as usual, but until it starts, let's take some time to preview some of the districts located in the Houston area.</p>   <p><strong>Division 6A - District 19</strong></p>   <p><strong>Cinco Ranch</strong></p>   <p>Katy's Cinco Ranch were one of the top teams in the district last season, winning 13 out of 16 matches to finish second. The Cougars had a solid playoff run too, beating four teams before they fell to district foes Tompkins in the regional final. High-scoring outside hitter Courtney O'Brien and starting libero Kayla Atkinson are gone after they graduated, but Cinco will remain competitive led by star junior setter [player_tooltip player_id='179888' first='Kassidy' last='O'Brien'], who will have senior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='177534' first='Makenna' last='Loo'] and junior right side Gabriela Martinez at the pins and seniors [player_tooltip player_id='249431' first='Shea' last='Rainosek'] and Emily Killam in the middle. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/CincoVolleyball/status/1591570735457345536?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Jordan</strong></p>   <p>Fulshear's Jordan fought for a playoff spot until the end during the last season, but ended up looking from the outside after they finished fifth with eight wins and eight losses. The Warriors had their first graduating class last year and it included outside hitter Ella Folse and libero Abby Hoss, two big parts of the team. Jordan will try to go one step further this season and they have a solid core with seniors [player_tooltip player_id='189645' first='Leah' last='Hoss'] (setter), Ella Koch (outside hitter) and Addison Oglesby (middle), junior [player_tooltip player_id='269772' first='Abbie' last='O'Shay'] (middle/right side) and sophomore Ava Ribakovs (setter/right side) to make it happen.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/JordanHSVball/status/1560279494434652160?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Katy</strong></p>   <p>Katy were the sixth-best team in the competitive district last season, when they won seven of their 16 matches. Looking to move up a few spots, the Lady Tigers will need to do it with new starters at outside hitter after Madeleine Chaapel and Addison Chapman, their two main scorers last season, both graduated. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='225208' first='Gabi' last='Young'] and [player_tooltip player_id='235065' first='Cameron' last='Steger'] continue to provide stability at setter and libero respectively, but senior right side Nyla Wold and junior middle Kennedy Pike will be asked to step up offensively.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/katyvball22/status/1659293434824257552?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Katy Taylor</strong></p>   <p>Katy Taylor won the battle against Jordan and secured the last spot in the playoffs, ranking fourth with ten wins and six losses. The Lady Mustangs were unlucky to face powerhouse Ridge Point in the bi-district round and couldn't advance any further. The team will remain nearly untouched in 2023 as starting libero Tessa Woods was the only senior to graduate after their last campaign. Seniors Allyson Campbel and Hanna Fan should continue at outside hitter, with junior Ella Randall playing setter, junior [player_tooltip player_id='269804' first='Julia' last='Porath'] developing at right side and senior Vanessa Eregie and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='435684' first='Madison' last='Barrera'] playing in the middle.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/taylor_vball/status/1651385496730320896?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Mayde Creek</strong></p>   <p>Houston's Mayde Creek had a hard time dealing with the tough competition in district play and ended in ninth place, with just two sets won during last season. The Rams will have situations to sort out in the upcoming season with the graduations of outside hitter Jada Mckey, libero Claire Garcia and defensive specialist Alondra Guardado, but also have good potential for growth as juniors [player_tooltip player_id='437647' first='Melanie' last='Gasca'] (setter), [player_tooltip player_id='249748' first='Jasmine' last='Thomas'] (middle) and outside hitter Rachel Cortez (outside hitter) continue to develop.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/MCHSVB/status/1561182130004279298?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Morton Ranch</strong></p>   <p>Katy's Morton Ranch won the two district matches against Mayde Creek to rank right above them in eighth place last season. The Mavericks had a strong senior class graduating after their last campaign, which included leading scorer outside hitter Neveah Donahoe, setter Hadley Hyle and libero Kyler Maple. Seniors Alexis Scott (middle) and Kirsten Williamson (outside hitter) will be among their few returning players this season.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/MortonRanch_VB/status/1562937461193392128?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Paetow</strong></p>   <p>A fairly new program in the region, Katy's Paetow showed progress last season and finished seventh with six wins and ten losses. The Panthers graduated some important players, such as outside hitter Abigail Hardison, middle Amaya Thompson and libero Charrish McLemore and will also have to deal with the departure of their best player in the last two seasons, junior setter/right side [player_tooltip player_id='203987' first='Caelyn' last='Dumas'], who transferred to Tompkins. Senior setter Ilana Rosario and senior outside hitter Devan Adams will be of big importance to Paetow in the 2023 season - junior outside hitter Carsyn Jefferson can help offensively too.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/PaetowVball/status/1679652472531419137?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Seven Lakes</strong></p>   <p>Katy's Seven Lakes were third in the district last season - they had the same ten wins and six losses as Katy Taylor, but won the seeding match between the teams. The Spartans won their first playoff match, but fell to Stratford in the area round. Seven Lakes will return without two starters in 2023 after libero Grace Lanier and middle Isabella Deuel graduated, but still have a strong squad, led by seniors [player_tooltip player_id='124148' first='Sameena' last='Burns'] (outside hitter/middle), Temi Sam-Olibale (outside hitter), [player_tooltip player_id='196106' first='Simone' last='Romriell'] (setter), LeAnna Beaty (middle), [player_tooltip player_id='205089' first='Katie' last='Cieslewicz'] (right side) and [player_tooltip player_id='233600' first='Clara' last='Belcher'] (libero).</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/7LakesVBnews/status/1669023821238509571?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Tompkins</strong></p>   <p>Katy's Tompkins were one of the best teams in the entire state last season and it all started with their perfect district record of 16 wins. The Lady Falcons then went on to win six playoff matches to make it the State Championship match, where they were topped by eventual champions Dripping Springs. Their success was in part due to a strong senior core, which contained right side Cindy Tchouangwa, outside hitter Tendai Titley and setter Presley Powell. They won't be back in 2023 - as well as senior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='197076' first='Skylar' last='Skrabanek'], who transferred to Randle, but won't play this season - and Tompkins will need to find new pieces to pair with senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='124136' first='Erica' last='Dellesky'], junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='254089' first='Brooklynn' last='Merrell'] and middles [player_tooltip player_id='227249' first='Simi' last='Elliott'] (junior), Christin Cowart (junior) and [player_tooltip player_id='254092' first='Callie' last='Funk'] (sophomore). The arrival of junior setter/right [player_tooltip player_id='203987' first='Caelyn' last='Dumas'] from Paetow will also strengthen the team. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/OTHSVolleyball/status/1637908262522695680?s=20 </div></figure>

The club volleyball season has come to an end in great style, with the best teams in the country battling at the 2023 USAV Girls Junior National Championship, in Chicago, between the end of June and the start of July.