Bridgeland vs. Cy Ranch – Top Performers
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The high school volleyball season continues to progress at full pace in the state of Texas and, just like that, the playoffs are just a few weeks away in the Lone Star State. Prep Dig will be following the action…
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Continue ReadingThe high school volleyball season continues to progress at full pace in the state of Texas and, just like that, the playoffs are just a few weeks away in the Lone Star State.
Prep Dig will be following the action closely and every match I get to attend will be followed with a Top Performers Report, highlighting the prospects who stood out on the court, and a photo gallery.
On Friday, October 13, we caught the exciting District 16 duel between the Bridgeland Bears and the Cypress Ranch Mustangs in Cypress.
With a brilliant performance, the Mustangs got a sweep (25-15, 27-25, 25-22) on the road to continue undefeated in district play with 11 victories and improve their season record to 30-5. The Bears, who are third in the district with eight wins and three losses, have 24 victories and 12 setbacks since the start of the season.
Top Performers
Cy Ranch’s senior was in excellent form in her double duty as a setter and right side hitter and played a big role in the team’s victory. Her ballhandling was brilliant as Gilreath not only was precise and smart with her distribution but also had great success with her strategy, getting her pin hitters in 1v1 situations fairly often. Offensively, she was also highly efficient, scoring points with big swings and also having great efficacy with her tips and setter dumps. Gilreath was very consistent from start to finish, guiding her team to a solid performance, and also made some good plays on defense.
The Mustangs’ main hitter, Porter showed up when the team needed her and scored in key moments of the match, such as the game-winning point of the tight second set. Her athleticism and arm power were often too much for Bridgeland’s blockers and defenders, but she displayed a well-diversified arsenal and great maturity too, using tips and tooling the block when she wasn’t in a good position to swing hard and avoiding unforced errors. The outside hitter was also very solid on the backcourt, handling well the serves that went her way and making good plays on defense.
Highlights
The right side of the court was one of the keys to Cy Ranch’s dominant performance and Bello paired extremely well with Gilreath there. As her teammate, the sophomore was very efficient when setting and hitting and remained consistent during the entire match. Bello used the middles well when she could and was very precise with her locations to both pins. A very physical player, she had great success against Bridgeland’s blocking by making contact with the ball at a very high point and swinging hard. The setter was very calm the entire time and was cold enough to score the game-winning point in a setter dump after a long rally.
Highlights
Logan Hart
Logan Hart
Hart started the match on fire, making a huge impact with her blocking and getting several stuffs that helped Cy Ranch build a comfortable lead on set one. The senior middle was reading the game very well and moving very quickly to the pins, taking up a lot of space from Bridgeland hitters, who didn’t have an answer for her for some time. The Bears eventually adjusted their game plan and reduced the impact of Hart’s blocking, but she remained very active at the net, handling overpasses and winning 50-50 duels.
Like the entire team, Volpe had a rough set one, uncharacteristically struggling with her passing. Once she found her rhythm, the senior libero became the difference-maker she typically is, covering a lot of court on serve-receive and making strong defensive plays. Her defensive efforts kept her team in several rallies, but Bridgeland’s scoring efforts against a tough Cy Ranch blocking didn’t allow the team to always capitalize from her play. Volpe also did a good job when she had to set in transition.
Playing only three rotations, Creacy managed to make a considerable impact in the match most of the times she came in. She was one of the first to realize hitting hard wouldn’t always be the answer against Cy Ranch’s strong blocking and mixed things up well offensively, finding great success with short tips right behind the block and sharp angle swings. She didn’t make a lot of offensive errors, giving her team another chance to fight for the point, and also created some problems for opposing hitters with her blocking.