2007 Texas State Tournament Results

Conference 1A

Championship

Windthorst (38-2) def. Iola (36-4) 25-13, 25-22, 25-11

Semifinals

Windthorst (37-2) def. Flatonia (30-10) 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 17-15

Iola (36-3) def. Kopperl (38-6) 25-18, 13-25, 18-25, 25-14, 15-8

Conference 2A

Championship

Bushland (31-7) def. Poth (37-9) 28-26, 25-15, 25-22

Semifinals

Poth (37-8) def. Centerville (47-1) 31-29, 25-15, 25-15

Bushland (30-7) def. Harmony (35-4) 20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16

Conference 3A

Championship

Wimberley (38-7) def. Monahans (36-11) 26-28, 25-20, 16-25, 25-17, 15-10

Semifinals

Monahans (36-10) def. White Oak (41-2) 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20

Wimberley (37-7) def. Columbus (41-4) 25-2, 25-20, 27-25

Conference 4A

Championship

Waco Midway (47-1) def. Friendswood (38-7) 25-21, 25-22, 25-21

Semifinals

Waco Midway (46-1) def. Canyon randall (33-9) 25-20, 28-26, 21-25, 25-16

Friendswood (38-6) def. New Braunfels Canyon (36-8) 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-17

Conference 5A

Championship

Amarillo (46-1) def. Austin Westlake (42-2) 25-19, 25-17, 25-19

Semifinal

Austin Westlake (42-1) def. Plano West (34-9) 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-20

Amarillo (45-1) def. Houston Cypress-Fairbanks (37-3) 28-26, 25-16, 25-15

Season Wrap-Up

Class 5A

For the Westlake Chaps, it was a bitter end to an otherwise exceptional season. Westlake finished 42-2 and like San Antonio Reagan last year, only Amarillo stood in the way of a perfect season and a state title. The Chaps other loss came to the Sandies the first week of the season at Duncanville.

“That’s a very talented team,” Westlake coach Al Bennett said of Amarillo. “I just wish we had given a better showing tonight. But I’m still very proud of our girls and what they have accomplished this year.

Barker, who was her usual dominating self despite playing the last few weeks with a broken finger, finished with 30 assists, 8 kills and 6 digs to win the MVP award, but it probably could have gone to any of three or four Sandies.

Nine different Sandies, including Barker, had kills led by Black’s 10. Ashley Pylant added 7, Torri Campbell 6,  Aryn Bohannon 5 and Catherine Neilson 3.

Just as impressive was the Amarillo defense, led by Halie David (11 digs) and Breanne Owens (8 digs). Westlake never had a scoring run of more than three points in any of the three games.

Ally Miller led the Chaps with 9 kills while Sara Shaw had 8 and Maddy Baird finished with 6 and Cammy Kleinert had 5. Setter Elly Barrett had 27 assists for Westlake.

Westlake had advanced to it second state finals in three years with a sweep of Plano West in the semifinals on Friday night.

Amarillo, meanwhile, had advanced by sweeping Cy-Fair in a rematch of a terrific battle earlier in the year in the semifinals of the state’s premier tournament in Pearland. In that match, Amarillo rallied from what appeared to be sure defeat and there had been a lot of talk that Cy-Fair wanted a rematch with the Sandies.

Cy-Fair entered the match with a high national ranking,  one of the state’s most intimidating players in Nneka Ogwumike and a 37-2 record after dominating the Houston area. They left with a 37-3 record after the Sandies taught them the difference between a good team and a great team, completely shutting down Cy-Fair’s high powered offense in the last two games of a 28-26, 25-16, 25-15 sweep.

"I think our girls were fired up," said coach Barker. "They had heard that people were saying our win over Cy-Fair at the Pearland tournament was a fluke and it would be different this time. So I think they felt like they wanted to prove a point."

“We were confident,” added Black. “We watched the film of the first time we played them and we all realized that we played terrible and we still won.”

Amarillo was able to compile its 46-1 record this season despite two major injuries. The first week of the season star OH Kelsey Black broke a bone in her left hand and played most of the season with a soft cast on her left hand. Then just as the playoffs were getting under way, Brianne broke the pinkie on her left hand during warmups for a playoff match. After sitting out a match, the 2006 national Junior of the Year played the returned to action with a soft cast on her hand and finger.  Still, she was dominating as Amarillo swept the state’s #1 (Westlake), #3 (Cy-Fair), #4 (Arlington) and #5 (Arlington Martin) teams over the last week of the season.

Amarillo was ranked #2 in Texas prior to Saturday night. They had opened the season #1, but dropped behind Westlake after the loss at the Pearland tournament and had to wait two months for a chance to regain the top spot.

“We don’t like being #2,” said Pylant, as players and fans celebrated around her. “Tonight we were gunning and being ranked #2 all year long was just one more challenge. It’s a great way to end out senior year. Back-to-back state championships. What more can you ask for.”

Class 4A Championship

The Class 4A championship was claimed by Waco Midway. In a fitting end to a near perfect season, Jordan Rice had 13 kills and 11 digs to lead Midway to a surprisingly easy 25-21, 25-22, 25-21 sweep of Friendswood. It was Midway's 47th win of the year against only one loss.

Rice, who was named MVP, said it was one of the best matches of her career.

“Everything came together,” she said. “It seemed like every ball caught the split, the back row attack found the holes and every dive or dig reached the ball. It was amazing.”

Rice actually led a balanced attack that included 9 kills each by Megan Mader and Laura Simon and 3 kills apiece by Amanda Woolley, Kelsey O’Neill and Ale’tra Ware.  O’Neill had 30 assists in the victory.

“We felt like they were a great team and we likely were going to need Jordan to step up for us and wow did she have a great match,” said Midway coach Janet Angell.

Midway was unbeaten in 2006 before losing in the state semifinals to eventual champion Dumas.  The Pantherettes lost in a playoff warmup match to Cedar Park Vista

Ridge,  which cost them an undefeated season but seemed to shape the focus for Midway.

“After that loss to Vista Ridge, they came out the next day and practiced like demons. They really caught fire,” Angell said.

Angell’s favorite quote is “confidence , not arrogance” and libero Lauren Ray indicated that the loss to Vista Ridge solved that for the Pantherettes.

“We were getting pretty cocky and that loss slapped it out of us and made us ready to play,” Ray said. “We realized that we could get beat if we didn’t stay focused.”

Jessie Hays had 11 kills for Friendswood while Whitney Rhoden added 8 and Christi Dorch finished with 7.  Setter Jenny Brekke had 28 assists for the Mustangs.

Friendswood was making its seventh appearance overall and fifth in the last seven years. Midway won its first championship in only its second appearance (and second straight) at the state tournament.

Class 3A

In the Class 3A championship, Wimberley had to rally from a game five hole to win its second straight state title.

Lacey Lea and Kaili Cusack led Wimberley from a 7-3 deficit in the final game, Katie Milam added back-to-back crushing kills to set up championship point and Linsey Leinneweber ended it with a stuff block as the Lady Texans won their sixth state championship in the last nine years 26-28, 25-20, 16-25, 25-17, 15-10 over Monahans.

The match was a repeat of the 2003 state finals when the Texans also defeated the Loboes. Monahans was no stranger to state titles, having won nine championships in 14 trips to the state tournament winning most recently in 2004.

“Monahans is a great team,” said Wimberley coach Lee Grisham. “We were able to get a few runs and we got some free points that really made the difference.”

Wimberley lost games one and three in an eerie similarity to their 2006 championship match against Canyon. And like last year, it was ultimately superior ball control that proved the difference.

“We’re not that big and we’re not mega-athletic, but we get to a lot of balls and get them back into play,” Grisham said.

Wimberley’s offense primairly rested on the right shoulders of two players -- MVP Katie Milam, who had 22 kills, and Lacey Lea , who had 23.  Freshman setter Maddie Milner had 21 assists and Kaili Cusack had 25 assists in the victory.  Mia Huey had an incredible 33 digs while Lea added 21 digs and Milam 15 digs for the Texans.

“It was exciting and we just wanted to win, maybe more than them,” Milam said. “They were very good and when they were passing good, their hitters were awesome.”

Bailey Marcum was the most awesome, leading the Lobes with 26 kills while Jordan Latham added 18 and Heather Schulz had 10 in the loss.  Kaitlin Mitchell had 55 assists for Monahans.

“Wimberley is a great team. They served us very tough and got us out of our game," said Monahans coach Patty Dominguez. "When you do that they will beat you."

Class 2A

The biggest surprise of the weekend came in Class 2A where Poth was considered the odds-on favorite to win a fourth straight championship.

Apparently, Bushland didn’t get that message. The Falcons shocked the three-time defending champions 28-26, 25-15, 25-22.

Fittingly, it was 5-10 junior and MVP Christina Steinkruger who ripped the championship point off the Poth block, igniting a celebration among players and fans of the Panhandle school that is only four years old.

Poth was making its fifth straight appearance in the 2A finals and had beaten Bushland in last year's state semifinals.

But Bushland head coach Makesha Maupin, who was a member of a state championship team during her high school playing days at Hereford, said she knew before that match started that its was going to be her team’s night

“I knew that we would win during warm-ups,” said Maupin. “We were so on. The setters and hitters clicked, defense drills looked great. Honestly, I thought after warm-ups that we would win.”

Steinkruger slammed 12 kills and added 21 assists and two aces to lead the Falcons offense.  Kirsten Beasley had 15 kills while Lisa Adams had 6 and Kelsey Pratt finished with 5 for the champions.

Bushland, in only its third third year of varsity competition, won the first state championship in any sport and last year’s loss to Poth in San Marcos was obviously on their mind.

“We did not come this far to be denied. We were going to come here and win,’ said Pratt, one of only two seniors on the team.

The loss was the first season ending defeat experienced by the seven Poth seniors who had finished each of the previous three years with a state crown.

Lauren Waclawczyk led the Pirettes with 12 kills while five players had six kills each: Kasey Harlos, Amanda Waclawczyk, Courtney Laskowski, Rebecca Cavazos and Tara Dunn.  Poth setter Laskowski finished with 26 assists.

Class 1A

In Class 1A, Windthorst returned to the top of the mountain with a dominating 25-16, 25-22, 25-11 sweep of Iola.

Windthorst is pretty much the gold standard of Texas High School volleyball, winning nearly 96% of their matches over the past 10 years. The Trojanettes were making their 18th straight trip to the state tournament where they have won 12 titles overall.  It was their 11th straight appearance in the championship match.

“We take volleyball pretty serious in Windthorst,” said head coach Stacy Wolf, who has 10 seniors on the team.  Wolf has guided the Trojanettes to five of the state

titles. “The girls play hard, their sisters play hard and the town really supports them.”      

The Windthorst reign began with their first trip in 1988 and the championship run started with the first of three straight titles in 1992.  Since 1992, the only Class 1A titles not won by Windthorst were won by: Round Top-Carmine (1995, 1996 and 2003) and Collinsville (2006).

Championship match MVP Whitney McCorkle led the way with 15 kills for Windthorst while Mallory Schenk added 8 and Carmen Stallcup finished with 5 and 14 digs.  Trojanettes setter Marissa Schreiber had 29 assists and 12 digs.

Mercedes Alafa had a team high 7 kills for Iola.  Hannah Pointer added 5 kills and 6 assists.  Molly Martinez added nine assists and Kelseigh Braaton had 20 digs.

Iola was making its fifth trip to the state tournament and first appearance in the championship match.  The Bulldogs do not have a senior on their roster.