Texas HS: Tompkins vs. Cinco Ranch

<p>District play is quickly progressing in the high school volleyball season in the state of Texas as in just two months from now we'll know the teams that will earn the right to compete at the State Tournament, where the champions will be crowned.</p>   <p>We, at Prep Dig, are excited to cover another season here in Texas and will try to be in as many matches as possible over the next two months to follow the journeys of the many rising stars in our state, providing coverage that includes articles, photos and social media highlights.</p>   <p>On Tuesday, September 17, we covered the District 19 match between the Tompkins Falcons and the Cinco Ranch Cougars, in Katy. The teams entered the match as the only undefeated sides in the district, but only Cinco Ranch (21-5) remained this way, beating Tompkins (18-11) in three (25-16, 25-23, 25-21) to get to their sixth victory in district play. The Falcons now have four wins and one loss.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Top Performers</h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">One of the top setters in the country, O'Brien guided Cinco Ranch to a sweep in their most challenging match in district play so far with another excellent performance. The senior's playmaker's ability to make the players around her better will be an even bigger asset to the Cougars this season, after they graduated several starters, and that showed against Tompkins. O'Brien pushed the right buttons from start to finish, running an effective offense against taller opponents and keeping all her hitters involved. The setter also made big plays on defense, come up with aces in key moments and had a solid presence at the net.</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/grtorres/status/1836192313267167514 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">The only returning starting hitter from Cinco's last year's team that advanced all the way to the State Championship match, Martinez is their main offensive weapon this season and has been handling that role well. She's been as consistent as ever and displayed impressive maturity against Tompkins, not forcing plays when out of system and avoiding errors. The Falcons had no answers to Martinez's firepower and she was the one who got on the ball at the end of long rallies or in key moments of sets. The outside hitter also did a good job with her passing and produced some nice digs.</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/grtorres/status/1836202216387997845 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Goertz's sound technical skills were very important to Cinco Ranch's success against Tompkins as she got to contribute on both sides of the ball. The outside hitter was very effective in serve-receive, helping give the team stability in that area of the game, and also thrived on defense. Goertz also held her own offensively as, despite not being very tall, she was very explosive to get off the floor and extremely clever with her decisions. The senior also contributed some aces in the team's victory.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/09/IMG_7358.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-659542" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tompkins vs. Cinco Ranch</figcaption></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Finnegan was another important piece in the Cougars' victory with her tremendous contributions on the backcourt. A team with a setter of O'Brien's caliber needs solid passing to succeed and the senior libero delivered just that, covering a lot of ground in serve-receive and playing a nearly flawless match. Finnegan was also extremely important when covering her hitters as she recovered several balls just by being in the right place at the right time. The libero was also precise when she had to set in transition.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/09/IMG_7271.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-659518" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tompkins vs. Cinco Ranch</figcaption></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Kone seemed bound for a difficult night, matched up with taller blockers across the net, but she got the job done and played a big role in her team's victory. Playing with tremendous intensity and making the most of her physical tools, the sophomore was a handful in the middle and produced with great efficiency on both sides of the ball. Kone came up big for the Cougars at the end of the third set, when she got two blocks, including the game-winner, to stop what could have been a late push by Tompkins.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Merrell was a bright spot in what was a tough night for the Falcons, who could only at times challenge Cinco Ranch. The senior libero did a lot of hard work in serve-receive, handling basically half of the court herself, and was very accurate when opponents tested her, getting 17 passes. Merrell also took charge of the team's second ball a few times because of their passing struggles and did a good job with her out-of-system setting. The libero, who led the team with 16 digs, also had a nice serving run in the third set, almost bringing the Falcons back to the match.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/09/IMG_7299.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-659526" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tompkins vs. Cinco Ranch</figcaption></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Funk was among Tompkins' most efficient hitters and could have had more than seven kills and a much bigger role in the match had the Falcons handled their passing better. The team had its best moments in the match when the junior got into a rhythm and started to win the battle in the middle, but her momentum was at times stopped by their serve-receive issues. Funk also tried her best to make an impact in the game with her blocking, but got just one stop.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/09/IMG_7345.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-659537" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tompkins vs. Cinco Ranch</figcaption></figure>

District play is quickly progressing in the high school volleyball season in the state of Texas as in just two months from now we'll know the teams that will earn the right to compete at the State Tournament, where the champions will be crowned.