The Fort Worth-area volleyball season is at the midway point. Here’s what you need to know
We’re about at the halfway mark of the Texas high school volleyball season between the first official practice until the final game of the regular season and Fort Worth-area teams and players have made a splash.
Here are some mid-season thoughts:
Azle’s own leads the nation
There’s one name you need to know, Makenna Dillow. The Azle senior libero is leading the entire country in digs this season, according to MaxPreps. Through 34 games, Dillow has produced 845 digs, over 150 more than the next player.
She is averaging 8.5 per set for the Hornets (19-15), who are Top 10 in the Class 5A area rankings.
Dillow, who is uncommitted, was voted as the all-area preseason libero of the year. She led all Fort Worth-area returners with over 900 digs last season.
This season, she has eight games of 30 or more digs and is coming off a school-record 69 digs during a 3-2 win over Wichita Falls Rider on Friday.
This week’s rankings
There was some movement in all three area volleyball rankings this week. In Class 6A, Mansfield, Southlake Carroll and Eaton all moved up one spot while Keller dropped three spots after district losses to Carroll and Eaton.
In 5A, Northwest and Aledo swapped at 3 and 4 after the Texans defeated the Ladycats in 5-5A.
Finally, in 4A and others, the only change came at No. 10 as Brock took over Millsap’s spot after the Eagles’ win over the Bulldogs in district play.
Byron Nelson (28-2) and Midlothian (26-3) are No. 1 in 6A and 5A while Decatur, which has won three titles in the last four seasons, remains No. 1 in 4A and others.
Byron and Midlothian suffered rare defeats last week, but will bounce back and expect both to come away with district titles. Byron’s first loss came in tournament play against Southlake Carroll, but the Bobcats would avenge that loss with a win over Carrroll in district.
Richland and Arlington Martin were the first two losses for Midlo. Both teams are in the area rankings. The Panthers, who started the season No. 2 in 5A, beat then-No. 1 Colleyville Heritage to win the Mansfield tournament.
Upset alert
Prior to last week, there hasn’t been too many eye-catching upsets. Then there were two in one week.
It started on Tuesday Sept. 13 when the Joshua Owls hosted and beat Midlothian, 27-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-10. It was just Midlothian’s third loss of the season. They are the No. 1 ranked area team in Class 5A.
Five players from Joshua had seven or more kills as the Owls finished with 51. Payton Koller led the way with 10 kills. Ashlynn Porter added nine kills and hit 0.500. Gabbie Maldonado had nine, Morgan Collier had eight and Addison Litke chipped in seven. Peyton Cole put in 34 digs, second most of the season to up her total to 474, and Evi Walker and Cloey Dress added 13 and 10 digs, respectively. Dress had a team-high 33 assists.
Then on Friday, Class 6A No. 1 Byron Nelson picked up its second loss of the season during a 3-2 defeat against Keller Fossil Ridge. LSU commit Lainee Pyles, a Top 25 player, registered a whopping 36 kills on 0.424 hitting and added 11 digs.
Moving up a class
Crowley and Mansfield Legacy moved up to Class 6A during the UIL realignment in February while Midlothian Heritage and Argyle moved up from 4A to 5A.
Crowley is 17-8 and picked up its first district win last week (1-2 in 3-6A). Argyle has fared the best with a 23-11 record, No. 5 in the 5A area rankings and took Colleyville Heritage to five before falling 3-2 against the Panthers.
Some growing pains and injuries have set back Legacy (11-15, 1-2 in 11-6A) and Heritage (16-18, 3-3 in 8-5A).
Crowley is led by head coach Catherine Bruder, who announced it would be her final season as she continues to battle Stage 4 breast cancer. Bruder has received support and recognition during multiple games this season. Senior setter Jaden Polovina is among the leaders on the court. She leads the team in assists despite being born with deformities in both hands.
Filling big shoes
Some Fort Worth-area teams had to adjust in the off season after graduating their best player from 2021. Teams like Keller, Justin Northwest, Mansfield, Southlake Carroll, Martin, Birdville, Decatur, Liberty Christian and Azle.
The team that has responded the strongest so far, Northwest.
The Texans are 28-8 overall and 3-0 in District 5-5A. They are coming off a win over Aledo and ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 5A area rankings.
Northwest graduated perhaps the program’s best player of all-time in Makenna Miller, who is now a freshman on the volleyball team at Texas. Miller was a multiple all-district and all-area hitter, and was all-state last season. But the Texans have done a nice job filling her shoes with a ton of experience back, highlighted by do-it-all triple-double threat Sophie Chambers and TCU committed middle Lydia Seymour.
Hannah Clear, Rylee Jackson and Madison Scrivner have complimented the offensive attack and freshmen Kiley Brooks and Levariya Pinder have stepped up for coach Jennifer Chandler.
New coaches on deck
Several Fort Worth-area high school volleyball teams have new head coaches this season.
Here’s how they’re doing:
(Records according to MaxPreps)
Alvarado: Makayla Good (14-14, 2-1)
Argyle: Katelyn Johnson (23-11, 2-1)
Birdville: Whitney Woody (15-17, 2-1)
Boyd: Clark Oberle (22-8, 3-0)
Brewer: Jill Barkey (13-13, 0-3)
Brock: Nicholas Gay (16-16, 3-0)
Eaton: Leslie Berens (16-4, 3-0)
Euless Trinity: Casey Tribble (19-9, 1-2)
Haltom: Kristinn Holbrooks (13-14, 0-3)
Keller: Danielle Barker (16-11, 1-2)
Kennedale: Mary Malone (4-11, 0-1)
Lake Worth: Alex Oppenborn (15-15)
Liberty Christian: Megan DeGroot (18-8)
Midlothian Heritage: Rebecca Anderson (16-18, 3-3)
Southlake Carroll: Jason Tanaka (13-15, 2-1)
Weatherford: Karli Morrison (25-8, 3-0)
What to expect the second half of the season?
1. More great volleyball, that’s a guarantee.
2. Boswell, Byron, Martin and Mansfield will win 6A area districts.
3. Midlothian and Colleyville will battle for 5A Region 1, but watch for Northwest, Aledo and Argyle to be close behind.
4. 6A Region 1 in DFW is still the toughest in the state.
5. Give me Byron, Eaton, Prosper and Highland Park in the 6A R1 tournament.
6. Lake Country will return to the TAPPS state tournament.
7. Peaster, Boyd, Grandview will make deep playoff runs in 3A.
8. Azle’s Makenna Dillow could hit 1,200 digs by the end of the playoffs.
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
