Lady Mustangs, Panthers gauge progress in Pearland tournament

The Pearland tournament is viewed as the premiere event of the season. It will let coaches know right away where there teams are and where they need to improve.

Grapevine went into the tournament seeded 30th. Following their showing, the Lady Mustangs finished 23rd. There were some good wins, including those over San Antonio Alamo Heights and Argyle. There were also the disappointments in losses to Carroll and Austin Westlake.

“We competed against some really good teams, and I think we were poised to win some matches,” head coach Kori Cooper said. “It was good bonding experience because we got to stay in a hotel and do a lot of team activities.”

Junior outside hitter Jordan McCalla enjoyed a sensational start to her season, Cooper said. McCalla never left the floor because he was productive both offensively and defensively. Cooper said McCalla led the team digs in just about every match. She was also among the team’s kill leaders.

Senior Taylor Kress enjoyed another solid start to her season. Kress’ offensive efficiency is going to be important as the Lady Mustangs compete for the District 6-5A championship and make a deep playoff run.

Cooper said she is going to stay with a 6-2 approach. However, she’s going to stay with using all three setters in Hannah Merrick, sophomore Paiton Broussard (5-6) and freshman Anna Johnson (5-10). While developing chemistry between setters and outside hitters is important, Cooper is looking at the bigger picture.

“We want to build team chemistry,” Cooper said. “Once we’ve established that, then we can look other things with things. With setters and hitters, that’s something you can’t force. You have to watch it develop. You can guide it. But you have to watch it develop.”

Grapevine played GCISD rival Colleyville Heritage on Monday and then Mansfield on Tuesday before moving to the Justin Northwest ISD tournament this weekend.

Colleyville Heritage looking at changes

At 4-5 through her first week of the season that including an up-and-down performance in the Pearland tournament, first-year head coach Hollie Huston quickly identified where her team needs to make some changes. This team has to block better.

That’s really no surprise given that for the previous four seasons, the program relied on Anna Walsh to do the heavy lifting. Now, it’s a culture shock.

“Our block is really inconsistent and we’re struggling,” Huston said. “It’s a work in progress. We’ve just got to be more technical with what we’re doing. Defensively, we have to change our mindset. We have to be at the right spot at the right time.”

Huston, though, made two major changes with this team. She is going to stick with the 6-2 formation. But sophomore Lauren Evans is moving from outside hitter to play both setter and middle blocker. Huston is also using Kat Anthony.

“It’s not what we wanted, but we were not in sync,” Huston said. “We visited with Lauren because we knew this was going to be a big change for her. But we believe she can do it. It’s a new challenge for her but a great opportunity.”

Colleyville Heritage played Keller Central on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers are at the Allen tournament this weekend.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Lady Mustangs, Panthers gauge progress in Pearland tournament."