Justin Northwest snaps bi-district drought and more from Fort Worth-area volleyball
Monday, November 1st
Justin Northwest 3, Azle 0
The Texans made quick work of the Hornets to open their postseason run, 25-12, 25-15, 25-11, during a Class 5A bi-district volleyball game on Monday night at Northwest.
Northwest improved its mark to 27-11 and will face Tuesday night’s winner between Saginaw and Mansfield Timberview in the 5A area round.
Azle ends its season with a 20-19 record, its most wins since 2014.
The Texans, who won their first playoff game since 2016 when they swept Wichita Falls Rider, quickly turned a close game in the first set into a 14-6 lead, forcing the Hornets to call their first timeout.
Behind the play from Texas commit MaKenna Miller, middle blockers Hannah Clear and Lydia Seymour, and setters Sophie Chambers and Madison Scrivner, Northwest dispatched Azle to take a 1-0 lead.
Azle got kills from a pair of Star-Telegram players of the week in Meagan Ledbetter and Makenna Dillow to help the Hornets take an 8-6 lead in the second set, but Northwest, again, would make a run.
A Chambers to Miller connection pushed the run to 6-1 and Northwest added two more points after to take a 14-9 advantage. The run continued on a Seymour spike down the middle and freshman Brooklyn Whitton got the block on set point to give Northwest a 2-0 edge.
Seymour, Miller and Clear helped the Texans get out to an 11-6 lead in the third set and Azle got no closer as Northwest finished off the impressive sweep.
Miller had a game-high 14 kills and Seymour added 11 on a whopping 0.786 hitting percentage. Chambers and Scrivner combined for 33 of the team’s 39 assists, and Alyssa Rojo led the Texans with 23 digs. Rylee Jackson added six kills and Julianna Green chipped in 10 digs.
Argyle 3, Fort Worth Dunbar 0
Argyle served up 14 aces and the Eagles defeated the Wildcats, 25-8, 25-13, 25-7 during a Class 4A bi-district game on Monday night at Keller Fossil Ridge.
The Eagles (28-12), No. 23 in the state, advance to the area round where they will play Brownwood, which upset No. 14 Iowa Park (31-13).
Katherine Holtman (9 kills), Shaye Feely (7), Jessie Moore (7) and Allison Hesselgesser (7) led the Argyle attack.
Holtman (4), Jada Price (3) and Camryn Heiser (3) led the Eagles behind the service line. Price had a game-high 19 digs and Sydney Payne and Jordyn Moore combined for 34 of the team’s 36 assists.
Midlothian 3, Royse City 0
Kenna Buchanan and Lauren Safrit registered 13 kills apiece and the Panthers defeated the Bulldogs, 25-19, 25-10, 25-19 during Monday’s Class 5A bi-district game in Kaufman.
Midlothian (36-7), No. 1 in the final Star-Telegram Class 5A area rankings, advances to play Tuesday’s winner between Marshall and Huntsville.
Killian Armstrong finished with six kills for Midlothian and Karli Rector added a game-high 21 assists and two aces. Jenna McMichael led the team with 19 digs. Safrit (13 digs) and Liliana Garay (14 assists) rounded out the stat sheet.
Sanger 3, Kennedale 1
The Wildcats were upset by the Indians, 25-17, 18-25, 13-25, 18-25 during Monday’s Class 4A bi-district game in Carrollton.
Kennedale (32-7), entered the night as a No. 1 seed and No. 12 in the state rankings. The Wildcats had reached the state semifinals in back-to-back seasons.
Sanger (25-14), a No. 4 seed, picked up its eighth bi-district championship in the past nine seasons.
Seniors Bridget Barton (16 kills), Maddie Pyles (14) and Taylor Poore (10) led the Kennedale attack while the Wildcat defense was highlighted by Pyles (33 digs) and Amaya Constantino (30). True Johnson and Gracyn Reed combined for 40 assists.
The Indians advance to the area round to play Godley, which swept Dallas Roosevelt on Monday night.
Others
Keller (27-12), the Fort Worth-area’s top-ranked Class 6A team, opened its postseason run with a sweep over Euless Trinity on Monday night in Arlington while Mansfield (33-15), No. 4 in the area, took care of Copperas Cove at Robinson High School.
District 8-5A champ Mansfield Legacy (23-16) swept Fort Worth Trimble Tech at Arlington Bowie and Boyd, Midlothian Heritage and Glen Rose also won bi-district championships.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 7:50 AM.
