Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Raiders take down Whitesboro to advance in volleyball playoffs
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
Sunnyvale head coach Nicholas Gay has a pretty good assessment of his team's chances prior to Tuesday's playoff opener against Whitesboro.
"I think it will be a competitive match (Whitesboro)," he said. "But I don't think they've seen a team with as much firepower as we have, so we are confident."
That proved to be true.
Sunnyvale, ranked No. 21 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 2A state poll, will advance to the next round to face No. 3 Brock on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Burleson Centennial High School.
The Raiders are battle-tested coming off a district championship season a year ago with many of those same players back in the fold.
That is what allowed them to shake off a pair of early losses to 12-2A champion Pilot Point, and another to Caddo Mills, to rally down the stretch to finish 9-3 in district play.
Sunnyvale also found confidence in a warm-up loss, taking a game from Decatur, which is ranked third in the Class 3A state poll.
"There are certain girls we feel we can count on that have been in this position," Gay said. "These are girls that are two, three-year starters so we certainly turn to them at this time of year."
The Raiders got contributions from that core and others on Tuesday.
Abby Whitehead, the district's most valuable player a year ago, came up with a big all-around effort with 23 kills, two aces and 25 digs, but she got plenty of support.
Delanee Clark had 17 kills and 5.5 blocks, while Alex Lally ran the offense with 43 assists and added defensive spark with 15 digs. Caila Sims (eight kills, 20 digs, Whitney Matous (19 digs), Caylon Campanello (nine digs) and Leslie Berry (six kills, 16 digs) also made big contributions.
The Raiders are hoping that recent trend continues when it prepares to take on one of the top teams in the state on Saturday in Brock.
"There were five playoff-type teams in our district, and we were able to come back and get second, which I was happy with," Gay said. "I think when you look at the last few weeks, it shows we are playing pretty good ball right now."
FOOTBALL
Sunnyvale faces a tough chore on Friday when it hosts Pottsboro at 7:30 p.m. in the final home game of the season.
If the Raiders hope to make the playoffs, it faces a tall order in the final two weeks. Sunnyvale is currently 2-2 in 6-2A after a 20-17 victory over Van Alstyne two weeks ago.
However, the Raiders trail Pottsboro, Caddo Mills and Commerce in the standings, and have already dropped games to the latter two of that group.
If Sunnyvale hopes to make the playoffs, it will need to knock off undefeated Pottsboro this week, as well as winless Howe the following week, and get some help from other teams.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sunnyvale «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
