While football programs see most of the attention for the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment focused on them, the big event also has ramifications for volleyball and basketball teams at the same time.
Monday morning, those coaches also learned their fates for the next two years and had a wide range of reactions — from relief to shock to seeing their expectations met.
While our All-Big Country Preps Volleyball team is in place to honor those who achieved the most on-court success, our “Max Effort” team is something much more uncommon.
This is a special accolade, which has nothing to do with talent or stats.
It is here where character, grit and work ethic — traits that coaches wish every player had — are recognized. It is here where we honor the best teammates and best citizens that area volleyball has to offer.
It is for that reason that this team is selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the hardest-working, toughest volleyball players in our coverage area.
Ladies and gentlemen: Our 2025 Big Country Preps Max Effort Team.
Here are our superlative award winners for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps volleyball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps volleyball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps volleyball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our third-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps volleyball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here is our 2025 All-Big Country Preps volleyball Rising Stars Team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s volleyball selections, click the links below.
It’s been a good while since a Goldthwaite Eagle snagged our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in any sport. But sophomore Owen Campbell obliterated that streak with a fabulous effort in a 61-0 rout of Meridian on Friday.
His performance came on both sides of the ball, beginning with 12 carries for 144 yards and four touchdowns from his running back position.
Defensively Campbell charted eleven tackles, including seven solos, four assists and an interception from the GHS secondary.
“Owen had a tremendous game on Friday where he contributed to our win,” coach Andy Howard said. “He made a huge impact in all three phases of the game. He plays a huge role for us every week on defense, offense and on special teams.
“He continues to grow and improve as a player every week. I am proud of Owen but proud of everyone around him as well.”
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. throughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Here are the final Big Country volleyball playoff pairings and results:
Continue reading “Big Country volleyball playoff pairings, results (Final)”
What more can be said about the performance of Wall senior Landon York last week other than it was a model of efficiency?
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week shredded Grape Creek in a 48-0 district win to clinch the District 4-3A DII championship.
Along the way, York connected on 18 of 21 throws for 246 yards and get this: seven touchdowns. That means one out of every three throws resulted in points.
How good of a night did he have? How about a ridiculous quarterback rating of 294.1?
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. throughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Photos courtesy of Krista Wilcox
After earning a playoff spot for the first time in nearly a decade last fall, the Comanche Maidens volleyball team is already a lock for postseason play in 2025.
Though Comanche fell in three sets on Tuesday to perennial District 8-3A champion Peaster, the Maidens are 27-8 overall and 9-4 in league play. Riding a five-game win streak to open district, they set a highly competitive tone that helped them clinch back-to-back playoff berths under second-year coach Krista Wilcox.
Even so, Wilcox said there is a big difference in how her team is approaching a prospective run into November compared to the way they did it in 2024.
Being honored as the lone senior on the Wylie volleyball team, Avery LaCroix made her final home match a memorable one Tuesday evening, putting on a Senior Night show in a 25-13, 25-10, 25-13 win over crosstown rival Abilene High.
The versatile hitter put up a team-high 11 kills with a remarkable .688 hitting percentage while contributing a team high-tying three blocks (1 solo, 2 assists) to fuel a dominant effort for the Lady Bulldogs, who stayed unbeaten in District 4-5A play heading into a huge match at Wichita Falls Memorial on Friday.
The victory, which improved WHS to 31-7 overall and 7-0 in league action, was the 11th in a row for coach Shay Cox’s team, which has a chance to secure its second consecutive district title with one more win.
Forsan senior Hayden Bowlin had a career night last Friday and picked up our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in the process.
To begin with, the FHS QB rushed for 280 yards and five scores in last week’s 60-27 win over Colorado City. Aside from that, he threw for 59 yards, he returned a punt 75 yards for a sixth TD and had a 34-yard kickoff return to give him 389 all-purpose yards and 36 of FHS’ points.
Photos courtesy of Kimberly Branch
With its sweep of San Angelo TLCA on Tuesday, the Wall volleyball team ran its District 6-3A record to a perfect 10-0 and its overall mark to 29-7.
Yet, as impressive as those numbers are, the record is not the most remarkable stat of the year for the Lady Hawks.
While forging its identity as the 6-3A “team to beat,” Wall has dropped just one set in district play.
That astounding number, coupled with the fact that Wall faced a pre-district schedule that included a bevy of quality Class 6A and 5A opponents, has the Lady Hawks primed for what could be a special season.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. throughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Coming into the second crosstown volleyball match between Abilene High and Cooper, the youthful Lady Cougars had yet to win a set in five District 4-5A matches. So when coach Kandice Williams’ squad had its rival down 9-2 in the fifth set Tuesday, there were a lot of surprised — and nervous — fans in Cougar Gym.
But after struggling to wrestle momentum from the feisty Lady Coogs for most of the match, thanks in no small part to a large and rowdy crowd, the Lady Eagles recovered just in time to avoid an upset loss, rallying for a 25-13, 24-26, 22-25, 25-17, 15-13 win to level their district record at 3-3.
The match was a far cry from the first meeting between the teams, which saw AHS breeze to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-12 victory at home. And after it, Lady Eagles coach Emily Gravitt was just happy to see her team escape with the hard-earned win.
Slowly but surely, the Cooper Cougars have emerged as one of the most explosive teams in the Big Country. And in its latest exploit, CHS rolled up 517 yards in total offense in a 66-16 win over Lubbock Cooper.
At the top of the stat sheet: Cooper quarterback Jaden Carrillo, who hit 18 of 27 throws for 263 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 80 yards and another score to help the Cougars improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in District 2-5A DII.
His six TD passes tied a school record held by Zac Allen and Clayton Nicholas.
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Abilene Christian Schools volleyball coach Arnett McClure was optimistic heading into Thursday’s TAPPS District 1-3A showdown with Fort Worth Covenant Classical that his team could get an upset win and have a shot to tie for the district championship.
His belief stemmed from a five-set loss two weeks ago to the Lady Cavaliers on the road.
Instead, it was Covenant Classical that took a 25-14, 25-14, 25-14 straight-sets win at Panther Gym to wrap up the district title.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
A year ago, it took the Wylie and Wichita Falls Memorial volleyball teams three matches to decide which of those two would ultimately hoist the District 4-5A crown.
On Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Mavericks resumed one of the region’s best budding rivalries, writing a new chapter that was every bit as riveting as the three that preceded it.
In repeating a little history from the first meeting last year, Wylie rallied from an 0-2 hole to knock off Memorial in five sets, claiming a thrilling 22-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13 victory at Bulldog Gym to grab a leg up in this year’s district title race with the first round of league action in the books.
It was rollercoaster of a match that kept those in attendance on the edge of their seats from the first serve to the final point and left WHS coach Shay Cox needing to catch her breath and collect her thoughts after its — thankfully, triumphant — conclusion.
With three quarters of the 2025 volleyball season in the books, the Wylie Lady Bulldogs find themselves in a familiar position: contending for yet another postseason berth.
No surprise there — in each of her previous 11 seasons as Wylie’s coach Shay Cox guided her team to the playoffs. Heading into a home match against Wichita Falls Memorial at 6 p.m. Tuesday, this year’s Lady Bulldogs are 27-7 overall and 3-0 in District 4-5A. Memorial (25-5) is also 3-0 in district, so the winner of the critical battle will take the pole position as league favorite down the stretch of district play.
While the fact that Wylie is prominent, yet again, isn’t unusual, how the Lady Bulldogs became so this fall is a little unorthodox — for title-vying sports teams in general and for Cox’s program in particular.
The season’s midpoint usually offers little in the way of big-time performances, with most of the area teams taking a bye week prior to the opening of district play.
This year was an exception.
Haskell junior quarterback Haegan Pinkerton delivered an astonishing effort in last week’s 56-42 win over Seymour, that could have taken our weekly accolade at any given point in the season.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany volleyball (55 images)”
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
ALBANY — Even after losing in straight sets, Albany volleyball coach MJ Reneau was encouraged by how her team performed against No. 7 Hawley at home on Tuesday night.
Hawley claimed a 25-17, 25-23, 25-19 win in the District 6-2A matchup to move to 2-0 in district play while the Lady Lions fell to 1-1.
After the match, Reneau said the final score didn’t indicate how close the two squads are, especially the opening set, which saw Hawley go on a 12-3 run.
When Courtney Freeman was named the new volleyball coach at Clyde shortly before the beginning of the 2024 season, she immediately was met with an array of formidable challenges.
Surprisingly, the biggest one wasn’t the fact that she was succeeding the highly successful Laura Carr in that position.
Carr led Clyde to the playoffs routinely throughout her nine-year stay there, and her 2023 team made it to the Region I-3A semifinals.
Meanwhile, as Carr moved on after that season (to become an assistant principal in Wichita Falls ISD), so, too, did some of the better senior volleyball players in Clyde High School history. The cupboard Freeman inherited was far from bare, given the type of program Carr established, but it wasn’t filled with experienced, heirloom-quality athletes, the likes of which helped Carr make Clyde a perennial volleyball contender.
As it turned out, the best game in the Big Country last week was Clyde’s dramatic 54-49 win over Muleshoe in the top shootout the area has seen thus far in 2025.
At the heart of all that mayhem was our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, CHS junior quarterback Devan Wright.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Albany-Abilene TLCA volleyball (52 images)”
The Wylie volleyball team opened District 4-5A play in dominating fashion Tuesday, traveling four miles north to hand crosstown rival Cooper a 25-7, 25-7, 25-17 loss at Cougar Gym.
It was the fifth consecutive win for the Lady Bulldogs, who notched victories over ranked squads from Bushland and Stephenville last week to ride a wave of positive momentum into league play.
Now 25-7 on the season, WHS will take a 1-0 district mark into road matches against Wichita Falls Legacy on Friday and Abilene High next Tuesday. Cooper, meanwhile, will look to regroup quickly before taking on Abilene High on Friday at Eagle Gym.
Albany coach MJ Reneau said before Tuesday night’s District 6-2A opener that she was hoping to see her team snap out of a funk that had seen them lose nine of 13 matches and 12 of their last 14 sets.
While the Lady Lions struggled, including six service errors in the final set, Albany still began district play with a 25-16, 25-10, 25-19 win over Abilene TLCA at Eagle Gymnasium.
The win pushed Albany to 10-10 overall while the Lady Eagles are now 2-10.
Wylie junior Haddie Mock was at her very best against difficult competition last week, helping the Lady Bulldogs to wins over seventh-ranked 3A Bushland (25-8) and 21st-ranked 4A Stephenville last week.
Mock finished a whopping combined total of 19 blocks in the two matches to help the Lady Bulldogs improve to 24-7. She also had 16 combined kills.
ABILENE — It took the Graham volleyball team most of one game to find its footing Tuesday, but after withstanding a fast start by Abilene Christian, the Lady Blues stood tall for a 25-23, 25-17, 25-20 win at the ACS gym.
GHS found itself in an early 11-3 hole and still trailed 17-11 later in the first set, but a 13-3 run swung the momentum to the Lady Blues side and it never left after as coach Marci Faulk’s squad picked up the road sweep over the Lady Panthers.
The victory, Graham’s fifth in a row, improved the lady Blues to 24-5 on the year, while Abilene Christian fell to 15-11 with its first loss in six matches. Both teams play one more nondistrict match later this week before opening district play next Tuesday.
The bar was understandably high when the Glen Rose Lady Tigers opened the 2025 volleyball season. With a 31-8 campaign last fall that included a District 6-4A championship and a bi-district title, to boot, Glen Rose earned a postseason playoff berth for the fifth straight season.
In turn, the Lady Tigers earned something else, namely a target on their backs throughout early season tournaments and pre-district matches. That meant they were getting opponents’ best efforts almost every time out.
Twenty nine matches into this season, Glen Rose has forged a respectable 18-11 record. With this week’s schedule featuring the final three nondistrict games on the Lady Tigers’ slate, yet another 20-plus-win season isn’t just possible, it’s almost certain.
Especially once Alex Arrington takes the court.
Since losing their season opener to Peaster (34-0), the Tolar Rattlers (2-1) have not only managed to improve, but they’re rapidly gaining momentum to go with that progress.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Briton Rice, is a part of that, having thrown for 197 yards and four scores in last week’s 42-18 win over Millsap. This, after missing a week with an injury.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: San Angelo Central-Wylie volleyball (50 images)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jim Ned-Clyde volleyball (32 images)”
Coming off a rocky week that saw it drop matches to Clyde last Tuesday and Midland High on Friday, the Wylie volleyball team entered its home match against San Angelo Central on Tuesday looking to get back on track.
By the end of a hard-fought nondistrict contest, it was mission accomplished for coach Shay Cox’s squad, which swept the Lady Cats 27-25, 25-23, 25-14 at Bulldog Gym.
Led by Kiki Bolden with 17 kills and Haddie Mock with 10, the Lady Bulldogs posted a .182 hitting percentage against a strong Central defense, fighting through a few lulls in the first two sets to close out the Lady Cats in three.
CLYDE — When Clyde and Jim Ned meet on the volleyball court, records can always be thrown out the window as the two squads tend to be part of a three-way battle with Wall for the District 6-3A championship.
Tuesday night’s affair at Bulldog Gym between the Lady Indians and Lady Bulldogs was nothing short of spectacular.
When all was said and done, it was the hosts who claimed a thrilling 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22 win to start district play.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Jim Ned volleyball (80 images)”
TUSCOLA — It became apparent very early in Tuesday’s nondistrict volleyball match between Abilene High and Jim Ned that the two squads would be in for a fight.
As it turned out, that fight would last five grueling sets before the Lady Indians finally prevailed with a 25-23, 19-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-12 victory at Bill Thornton Arena.
Jim Ned, which trailed 12-10 in the fourth set after dropping the second and third, used a 6-0 run to change the momentum and maintained it the rest of the way to knock off the Lady Eagles a week ahead of a highly anticipated District 6-3A opener at Clyde.
Photo provided by Randy Day
Milestones catch our eye when selecting our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, as do great weekly performances. But when both occur at the same time, you can rest assured that player will be in the running for the top spot.
This week the spotlight goes to Comanche senior outside hitter J’Lee Salinas, who not only helped the Maidens to the Heart of Texas Tournament Championship in Brownwood, but she also hit the 500-kill milestone in process.