2023 Houston Area HS Previews: 5A - District 17

<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, which is set to begin in just a few weeks, 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 5A - District 17</strong></p>   <p><strong>Barbers Hill</strong></p>   <p>Barbers Hill from Mt. Belvieu were dominant in the district last season, finishing in first place with 13 wins and just one loss, and made a solid playoff run, stopping only in the regional quarterfinals. The Lady Eagles lost their two main scorers from last season, middle Avery Wilks and outside hitter Jacie Meredith, who graduated, but still have more than enough senior talent to be a force in the division again with setter [player_tooltip player_id='142639' first='Peyton' last='Fadal'] calling the shots, middles [player_tooltip player_id='180088' first='Chloe' last='Morgan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='269782' first='Asia' last='Menard'] dominating the net, right site [player_tooltip player_id='197093' first='Peyton' last='Spahn'] scoring points, pin hitters Malia Martinez and Aemilie Broussard getting the job done and libero [player_tooltip player_id='400078' first='Mia' last='Rivers'] handling the backcourt duties.</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/BarbersHillVB/status/1668396508813615105?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Crosby</strong></p>   <p>Crosby made it to the playoffs last season after they got fourth place in the district with a campaign of eight wins and six losses, but couldn't get past the bi-district round. The team will certainly miss the absence of the graduating Ashley Anderson (setter), Victoria Grace (middle), Carli Brogan (libero) and Shyla White (outside hitter), but there's still some interesting talent in the Lady Cougars roster, most notably with junior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='187268' first='Kate' last='Valt'], sophomore middle blocker/right side Kylie Green, senior setter Bell Land and senior middle blocker Emma Hattaway.</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/RecruitCrosby/status/1673857420110581760?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Goose Creek Memorial</strong></p>   <p>Goose Creek Memorial from Baytown ended up missing the playoffs last season as their district campaign of six wins and eight losses was only good enough to get them in fifth place. Graduation has taken two key pieces from last year's team in setter Rylee Buchanan and middle blocker Christian Stringer, but the Patriots still have one of the best players in the district in junior middle [player_tooltip player_id='314731' first='Sanaa' last='Donaie'], who recently committed to Louisiana State. Other key players for Goose Creek Memorial will be senior middle Shyla Houston, senior outside hitter Aracely Nunez and senior libero Carmen Cervantes.</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/classof2025vb/status/1678465306858061824?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Lee</strong></p>   <p>With just two wins in 14 matches and a seventh-place finish last season, Baytown Lee will be looking to improve in 2023. The good news for the Lady Ganders is that outside of setter Kandace Waller, no other major contributors from their last campaign graduated. Two of the team's standouts last season, junior middle blocker Christian Duncan and senior outside hitter Makenzy Moore will have the responsibility of leading Lee to a better season this time.</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/relvolleyball/status/1615446998252937222?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Nederland</strong></p>   <p>Nederland battled at the top of the district last season, ranking third with 11 victories and just three defeats and handing Barbers Hills their only upset - their postseason run didn't last long, though, ending in the bi-district round. The Lady Dogs will have a lot of work to do if they want to remain among the best after the team's three All-District First-Team selections - setter [player_tooltip player_id='783202' first='Audrey' last='Johnson'], middle Ava Whitehead and libero Ava Wiltz - all graduated. Leading Nederland this season will be senior outside hitter Kamryn Smith, junior outside hitter Naysa Arnold, junior libero Uriah Buckley and junior middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='436707' first='Ava' last='Patrizi']. </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/NHS_dogsvball/status/1672244313042952192?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Port Arthur Memorial</strong></p>   <p>After a winless campaign of 14 losses last season, Port Arthur Memorial can only go up this year. Some important seniors are no longer with the team, such as Ava Williams, Charnel Jones, Jariyah Botley and Lily Pham. Junior setter Amisti Ford, senior libero Dekarra Anderson, senior outside hitter Rayven Martin and junior middle Gin'Nyah Robertson should be a big part of the team in 2023.</p>   <p><strong>Port Neches-Groves</strong></p>   <p>Port Neches-Groves had good moments last season, but still didn't do well enough to make it to the postseason, finishing district play in sixth place with four victories and nine losses. Much of the squad will be back to try and improve this time around, with the most significant change happening at setter, where Payton Metts graduated. The core of the team should have junior right side Blakely Burks joining seniors Addison Bost (outside hitter), Karleigh Gil (outside hitter), Allie Wright (libero), Kennedy McGlory (middle) and Mallori Moreno (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/PngVolleyball/status/1592189134520684547?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Sterling</strong></p>   <p>Sterling from Baytown was the second-best team in the district last season with 11 wins and three losses and won one playoff match before going down in the area round. There will be significant departures for the team to deal with as setter Ashley Aguilar and middle blocker Tanishua Joseph both graduating, but the Rangers will be ready to compete again. The team will get a lot of stability from their senior core of libero Briana Galvan and outside hitters [player_tooltip player_id='155118' first='Katy' last='Barger'] and Bailee Payne and there are other seniors who could give the next step, such as outside hitter Briana Bentancourth and setter Kennedy Birdsell.</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/BaileePayne24/status/1673363981690388480?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.