Brewer, LD Bell keep playoff hopes alive and more from Fort Worth-area volleyball
October 19 recap
Brewer 3, Granbury 2
The Brewer Bears erased an 0-2 deficit to reverse sweep the Pirates on the road Tuesday, 16-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 16-14, vaulting themselves into playoff position in District 5-5A.
With two games left in the regular season, the Bears broke a tie with Granbury for fourth and moved to 3-5 in district. Granbury dropped to fifth at 2-6.
Brewer, which is looking for its first playoff berth since 1999, closes at home against Azle on Friday and at district-leading Rider next Tuesday. Granbury is at Wichita Falls (0-8) on Friday and Azle next Tuesday.
LD Bell 3, Euless Trinity 2
Needing a win to keep playoff hopes alive, the Bell Blue Raiders earned a hard-fought road victory over their rival Trojans, 25-23, 15-25, 25-17, 21-25, 16-14 on Tuesday night.
Bell improves to 5-7 in District 3-6A with two games left in the regular season, at home against Fort Worth Paschal on Friday and district-leading Boswell next Tuesday.
Trinity (6-6) still holds a one-game lead on Bell for the final playoff spot. The Trojans close the season on the road against Weatherford Friday and Paschal next Tuesday.
The season series is split between Bell and Trinity.
Boswell 3, North Crowley 0
Stephanie Gutierrez smashed down 16 kills and Madi Parrish added 14 kills as the Pioneers swept the Panthers, 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Pioneers improved their mark to 12-0 in District 3-6A and clinched the top playoff seed.
Gutierrez hit a whopping 0.636 while Parrish hit 0.478. Caitlyn Boyd had 19 assists and five aces. Emmerson Chadwell finished with 14 digs and Parrish chipped in 11 digs. Brianna Russell also ended the match with 19 assists.
Denton 3, Justin Northwest 2
The Denton Broncos entered Tuesday night thinking their last three regular season games were playoff games.
Denton hadn’t clinched one of the final two playoff spots in District 6-5A, but did have a one-game lead for third place. Denton picked up a big-time district road victory on Tuesday over the district-leading Texans, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-10.
Lauren Perry had a pair of early kills in the fifth set, the latter tying Northwest at 6-6. Denton went ahead 10-8 that forced a timeout and a Katie Thomas kill made it 11-8. The Broncos extended their lead to 14-8 before putting away the match.
The Broncos sit at 8-4 in 6-5A, remaining one game up for third over Grapevine (7-5) and Birdville (7-5). Denton finishes out the season against Birdville (1-0 season series) at home Friday and Grapevine (0-1) at home next Tuesday.
Perry had a team-high 21 kills with 14 digs and Abby Folsom put in 44 assists and 19 digs. Thomas and Val Pena had 18 and 23 digs, and Tessa Gerwig recorded 15 kills, four blocks and 10 digs. Taryn Morris recorded 11 kills and Jess Pancoast capped off the night with 14 digs.
Northwest drops to 10-2 in district, a game back of Colleyville Heritage (11-1) for first place. The two teams meet at Colleyville on Friday.
The Texans could do little wrong in tying the match after the fourth set. Hannah Clear had a monster set, first with a block that pushed Northwest’s lead to 8-3. Clear smacked down a Sophie Chambers’ assist at 15-8 and another block made it 22-9. Clear tied the match at 2-2 with an ace on set point.
Clear finished with 10 kills for the Texans with five blocks. Texas commit MaKenna Miller had a game-high 22 kills. Chambers, who celebrated her 1,000th career assist, had 31 assists and 10 digs. Madison Scrivner added 21 assists and 14 digs and Alyssa Rojo had a game-high 36 digs.
Aledo 3, Azle 2
Senior setter Mattie Gantt recorded her 3,000th career assist and sophomore outside Vivian Parker recorded 20 kills and 24 digs as the Ladycats defeated the Hornets on Tuesday night, 25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 15-12 to stay in the race for a District 5-5A championship.
Aledo improved to 7-1, a game back of Rider (8-0). The two teams meet in Wichita Falls on Friday.
Gantt had 62 assists and 22 digs. Along with Gantt and Parker, two others from Aledo had 20 digs in Sam Smith (26) and Mia Little (24). Averie Riser had 19. Maddie Frank picked up 19 kills and Smith and Payton Hilmer chipped in 12 kills each.
Meanwhile Azle drops to 4-4, a game up of Brewer for third place. The Hornets end the season against Brewer (3-5) on Friday and Granbury (2-6) next Tuesday.
Meagan Ledbetter led Azle with 30 kills while Makenna Dillow and Karlee Locke added 18 and 11. Dillow and Ledbetter finished with 37 and 36 digs, and Camryn Hinkle recorded 56 assists.
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
