Texas HS Playoffs: Bi-district Round – Tomball vs. Cy Woods

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The most exciting portion of the Texas high school volleyball season has arrived as the playoffs officially began on Monday, with bi-district round matches being held all over the Lone Star State. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We, at Prep Dig, are excited to continue to cover the season here in Texas and will try to be in as many playoff matches as possible to follow the journeys of the many rising stars in our state, providing coverage that includes articles, photos and social media highlights.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our playoff coverage began on Monday, November 4, at the Berry Center, in Houston, where the Tomball Cougars and the Cy Woods Wildcats met in the bi-district round of Region 2, Division 2.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Steadier from start to finish, the Cougars triumphed 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-19) to move forward and are set to meet the Oak Ridge War Eagles in the area round later this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Top Performers</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["269824"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c6ff"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">One of the keys to Tomball's victory was dominating the net and the junior was instrumental in that, working very well on both sides of the ball. Kettler had a strong start with her blocking, getting a few stops early on and scoring the winning point on a tight set one. That seemed to give her a lot of confidence and positively impacted her offense, which became more and more efficient as the match progressed. Kettler was very effective with her swings, mixing hard-driven spikes and well-placed tips. She continued to block well until the end and on multiple occasions helped Tomball win rallies with a stop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["501890"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c760"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The sophomore also had a very strong night, giving the Cougars a significant advantage at the net. Hornes was nearly unstoppable in the middle, hitting different sets and having great success with her swings. She made contact with the ball at a very high point and was able to put a lot of pressure on her spikes, not giving defenders much of a chance to control the ball. Hornes also had a solid blocking performance, getting many touches that allowed her teammates to efficiently play defense behind her. Hornes also displayed good ball control and made some digs on the backcourt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["269795"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c7aa"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Tomball's defensive system was extremely effective in the match and, if Kettler and Hornes led the way at the net, it was Hopkins who made a difference for them on the backcourt. The libero made some incredible digs, displaying tremendous agility and ball control, and worked hard for every point, recovering shanked passes or digs from her teammates on multiple occasions. She also did a terrific job with her passing, helping keep the Cougars in system and creating the conditions for their middles to have strong offensive performances. Hopkins made some impressive out-of-system sets in transition plays too, using her hands to accurately send the ball to the pins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"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":"Heidi Horan","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'7u0022","_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":"Tomball","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"North Houston Elite","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c84d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The skilled outside hitter gave Tomball a lot of stability with her technical and intelligent game. Horan did an excellent job on the backcourt, handling her passing duties extremely well and generating many transition opportunities with her defense. She faced much taller opponents at the net, but did a very good job of staying efficient, scoring in difficult plays and keeping her errors very low. The junior also served well for most of the time and scored the game-winning point from the service line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["254166"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c89a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The senior setter was able to make an impact every time she came off the bench in the team's double sub and played a big role in their victory. Doty was very good with her playmaking, making good choices in her distribution and delivering accurate sets to her hitters. She also played good defense on the right, giving her team multiple opportunities to score in transition. The setter was pivotal in Tomball's comeback to win set one, going on a long serving run at the end and putting her team ahead 24-23 with a clutch setter dump.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["536463"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c8df"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The junior outside hitter was Cy Woods' go-to scoring option and, despite some errors, was their most consistent and reliable offensive player. Walden had some impressive swings at the pin and displayed a great combination of power and finesse, bouncing balls when she had a chance, but also finding great angles to put them down. The outside hitter also did a solid job with her passing, efficiently handling the vast majority of the Tomball serves that went her way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"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":"Jaya Rimm","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'10u0022","_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":"Cy Woods","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67298abf1c964"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Playing opposite to Walden, Rimm had somewhat of a slow start, but found her rhythm during the match and helped split the scoring load. The senior got some nice swings at the pin and was also frequently set in the middle back position, having some success with her attempts. Rimm also did a good job with her passing and defense, producing at a solid level on the backcourt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->