Colleyville Heritage, Eaton knock off district rivals and more from Fort Worth-area
Tuesday November 9th
Colleyville Heritage 3, Birdville 1
For the fourth time this season, the Heritage Panthers and Birdville Hawks met on the volleyball court, only Tuesday night’s showdown at Richland was the biggest of them all.
With a spot riding in the Class 5A Region 1 tournament later this week, Heritage was able to rally late in all four sets to eliminate Birdville, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23.
Colleyville Heritage wins its 40th game of the season (40-10) and advances to the regional tourney to face Canyon Randall at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Grapevine, which won on Monday night, will play Amarillo in the first semifinal at 6 p.m with both games at Lubbock Coronado HS.
Birdville (28-18) came out swinging with an early 3-0 lead in the opening set. The Hawks continued to lead with a kill from Caroline Kahle and the Panthers were forced to call a timeout at 11-7. The Hawks upped their lead to 15-10, but it was answered by a Heritage 4-0 run.
Lyric Steward got a point to give Birdville a 20-17 advantage, but another run from Heritage gave the Panthers a 22-21 lead, highlighted by one of Maddie Bird’s seven kills.
Again, Birdville got out to a comfortable margin, going up 7-4 and 11-8. A 17-10 lead was quickly erased to 18-16 that forced the Hawks to call time. The game was tied at 19 and 21 before the Panthers took a 22-21 lead on a kill from Houston commit Ella Busey, who led the team with 24 kills.
But the Hawks got a block from Patricia Settlemier to finish the set out strong.
Heritage had the early lead in the third set until Birdville went on a 5-1 run to take a 12-11 advantage. Birdville was up 18-14 following another Settlemier block, but the Panthers finished with 11 of the final 16 points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Bird smacked down a kill in the fourth that gave Heritage a 14-11 lead and the Panthers still had a three-point edge at 19-16 and 21-18 on a Morgan Howard to Busey connection. Birdville pulled to within 21-20 and eventually tied it at 23-all before Heritage put the final touches to advance.
Howard, who leads all setters in the Fort Worth-area in assists, had 48. Lindsey Houran finished with 26 digs and Ava Ash added 12. Air Force commit Reagan Engler had 15 kills and a staggering nine total blocks.
Birdville was led by Maya Duckworth, who had 17 kills and 24 digs in her final high school game. She will sign her letter of intent with Iowa State on Wednesday. She finishes her career with over 2,000 kills. Kahle added 10 kills and 25 digs for the Hawks. Georgia Stinson and Settlemier combined for 11 total blocks. Stinson also had six kills, nine digs and 17 assists.
Eaton 3, Southlake Carroll 1
After no regional tournament appearances prior to 2020, the Eaton Eagles are going back for a second straight season after defeating the Carroll Dragons, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16 during a Class 6A Region 1 quarterfinal game on Tuesday at Arlington ISD Athletic Center.
Eaton (36-3) will play Hebron (27-18) in a regional semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday at Thomas Coliseum.
Eaton took command early on behind the play of seniors Paige Mooney, Lindsey Harris and Lily Bickley. Defensively, Callie Humphrey and Emily Simmons did enough to limit Carroll and lead Eaton to a 1-0 margin.
Carroll (26-17) would responded after tying the match at 1-1 thanks in large part of its trio, setter Jessica Dunn (West Virginia commit), outside McKenzie Cutler (Tulane beach) and libero Audrey Kubiak (most digs in the Fort Worth-area).
But the Eagles, who swept the Dragons in District 4-6A this season, answered the bell and dominated the third and fourth sets to advance.
Mansfield 3, DeSoto 0
The Tigers took care of the Eagles for the third time this season, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 during a Class 6A Region 2 quarterfinal game on Tuesday in Arlington.
Mansfield (35-15) advances to the program’s first regional tournament since 1992 and will play The Woodlands (40-7) at 4 p.m. Friday at Lufkin.
Brynn Williams finished with a double-double, 11 kills and 14 digs and Ava Roberts added 15 kills and eight digs. Williams will sign her letter of intent on Wednesday with Texas Tech. Roberts will sign with Dartmouth.
The Tigers swept DeSoto this season in District 11-6A play.
Argyle 3, Stephenville 1
With more than 30 lead changes on the night, the Argyle Eagles took down No. 4 Stephenville on Tuesday night from Azle, 27-25, 16-25, 27-25, 25-21 in a Class 4A Region 1 quarterfinal game.
The Eagles (30-12) and first-year coach Taryn Hill, who came from Frisco Liberty, move on to the regional tourney to play Dumas (35-12) at 7 p.m. Friday at Weatherford.
Katherine Holtman finished with 12 kills to lead the Eagles. Camryn Heiser, Jessie Moore and Shaye Feely had 10 kills apiece while defensively, Jada Price had a team-high 23 digs. Olivia Sanchez and Sydney Payne combined for 25 digs.
Keller 3, El Paso Coronado 0
The Indians rolled past Coronado on Tuesday to secure a spot in Friday’s Class 6A Region 1 tournament.
Keller (29-12), the No. 1 ranked Class 6A area team, advances to its first regional tournament since 2016. The Indians will play Plano West (31-7) in a regional semifinal game at 5 p.m. Friday at Thomas Coliseum.
Plano West beat Marcus 3-2 on Tuesday.
Keller got terrific play all around, including from West Virginia commit Melanie McGann, Taylor Polivka, Kea Whillock, Leah Ford, Jenna Clifford, Reagan Sharp and Landry McEachern.
Boyd 3, Grandview 2
Boyd outlasted Grandview, 18-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-11, 15-11, in a Class 3A Region 2 quarterfinal on Tuesday in Fort Worth. The Yellowjackets (35-4) advance to the regional tournament where they play Atlanta (25-6) at 7 p.m. Friday at Midlothian HS.
Grandview ends the season 32-10.
Shelby Martin was dynamic for the Grandview Zebras with 15 kills during an opening set win. Mackenzi Williamson, who leads the area in aces, finished the set with 15 assists.
Boyd grew its lead in the second set to 17-10 and 22-12 then tied the match. Boyd led 13-8 in the third before Grandview tied it at 15 behind the play from Martin and Olivia Bauerschlag.
Grandview broke five Boyd set points to win the third set and take a 2-1 lead.
Boyd had a commanding 14-3 lead in the fourth set, highlighted by Riley Braziel and Emma Rosier. Braziel had three straight kills to give Boyd a 4-1 lead in the fifth set. The Yellowjackets grew their lead to 10-4 until Grandview pulled within 12-10, but the Zebras wouldn’t get any closer.
Brock 3, Henrietta 1
The Eagles moved on after a 26-24, 24-26, 25-20, 25-17 victory in a Class 3A Region 1 quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
Brock improved to 26-12 and will play Bushland (31-4) in the regional tourney at 7 p.m. Friday at Lubbock-Cooper HS.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 11:54 PM.
