Grapevine sweeps Northwest for regional tourney berth and more from Fort Worth-area
Monday November 8th
Grapevine 3, Justin Northwest 0
It’s hard to beat the same team three times in a season.
All coaches know that phrase and at Grapevine, the Mustangs made sure to live by that saying on Monday night during their Class 5A Region 1 quarterfinal against Justin Northwest.
After losing to Northwest in both district matches this season, Grapevine could do little wrong in defeating the Texans, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22 at Denton Guyer High School.
Grapevine (18-17) clinches a spot in the regional tournament for the third straight season (there was no tournament last season due to COVID). The Mustangs will travel to Lubbock Coronado on Friday where they will play Tuesday night’s winner between Lubbock-Cooper and Amarillo.
Grapevine’s game on Friday will start at 6 p.m.
The opening set started with fireworks with nine ties. Grapevine was led by sophomore Ava Shankle and Missouri commit Janet deMarrais while Northwest was led by Texas commit MaKenna Miller and junior Lydia Seymour.
Either team led by more than three, but after the game was tied at 16-16, Grapevine started to pull away.
Sydney Engel picked up a Grapevine block that gave the Mustangs a 19-16 lead and forced Northwest to call a timeout. The Texans got within 21-20, but Grapevine scored four of the final five points, capped off with a kill by Olivia Hays.
The Mustangs opened the second set with a 4-1 lead and deMarrais served up a run that extended the lead to 10-4. Northwest rallied back to make it 12-11 on a Miller swing, but Shankle’s block pushed it back to three.
Grapevine’s largest lead was six before closing out the set for a 2-0 lead.
Grapevine senior Alea Lastinger, who finished with seven kills, picked up a block for an 8-7 lead in the third and from there, the Mustangs began to roll again. The lead was 15-12 on one of deMarrais’ team-high 12 kills.
Shankle ended with 10 kills and five blocks, and hit 0.474. Ella Davis had a double-double with 19 assists and 15 digs, and Sydney Engel and deMarrais had 12 digs apiece. Helen Hood added 17 digs.
Northwest ends the season 28-12 and a second-place finish in the toughest district in 5A Region 1. The Texans played in the regional quarterfinal for the first time since 1998.
Highland Park 3, Midlothian 0
In a match-up of two district champions and No. 1 seeds, it was Highland Park that proved to be too much for Midlothian on Monday night in Dallas, 25-15, 25-12, 27-25.
Highland Park will head to Prosper Rock Hill for a Class 5A Region 2 semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday night against Tuesday night’s winner between McKinney North and Frisco Reedy.
Midlothian, District 14-5A champ, ends at 37-8 and played in the regional quarterfinal for the third straight season and fifth in the past six years.
Holliday 3, Peaster 1
Peaster’s season came to an end against Holliday in a Class 3A Region 1 quarterfinal game, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19 on Monday night in Graham.
Peaster ends the season with a 23-14 record and was district champ out of 8-3A.
It was the third straight season the Greyhounds played in the regional quarterfinal and seventh in eight years.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 12:02 AM.
