The Cooper volleyball team claimed its first playoff victory in almost two decades Friday, topping Amarillo Tascosa 25-13, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23 to advance to the area round, where the Lady Cougars will take on the winner of El Paso Horizon and El Paso Jefferson at a time and site to be determined.
The victory, Cooper’s first in a playoff match since 2002, improved the Lady Coogs to 13-9 on the year and sends coach Nora Campbell’s team into the area round on a three-match winning streak.
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By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
WEATHERFORD — Few playoff teams are allowed to enjoy happy endings and the Albany volleyball team wasn’t one of the exceptions in 2020.
Facing reigning Class 2A state champion Crawford in a state semifinal matchup, the Lady Lions fell in straight sets 14-25, 11-25, and 14-25.
“It was a great season, (The Lady Lions) haven’t been this far since 2008. We were going to feel sad whatever round we lost at and we are thankful that we made it to the state semifinals.” Albany coach MJ Reneau said at the conclusion of their game at Weatherford High School.
The Lions were forced into an early hole in the first set by an aggressive Crawford team led by Junior Katie Warden. Down 6-12, the Pirates went on a 13-8 run to secure their advantage and eventually, the set.
Here are the final district standings for the volleyball districts involving Abilene’s local schools (with complete results):
One dominating performance deserves another.
Having already helped Albany reach the Region I-2A finals with a 17-kill performance in a win over Plains (22-25, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16) last week, Sarah Beth Cotter wasn’t finished.
With AHS facing perennial power Wink in the regional finals Saturday in Big Spring, she helped the Lady Lions reach the state semis with 16 kills, two blocks, four digs and an ace in a stunning 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of the Lady Cats.
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BIG SPRING — Prior to Saturday’s Region I-2A championship match with Wink, Albany volleyball coach M.J. Reneau knew her team had an advantage up front over WHS. The key to winning would be in consistently getting an attack set up, without letting postseason nerves lead to too many mistakes.
Mission accomplished.
The Lady Lions held their unforced errors in check, dominated the net and swept Wink in three games, 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 at Big Spring High School.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
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The Wylie volleyball team took care of Lubbock High quickly and easily Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Westerners 25-15, 25-8, 25-11 at Bulldog Gym to clinch the No. 2 playoff seed out of District 4-5A.
Improving to 12-5 overall and 7-2 in league play with the victory, the Lady Bulldogs locked up the runner-up spot behind league champion Lubbock Cooper when Abilene Cooper fell in four games to Lubbock Coronado across town.
Wylie’s win over Lubbock High marked the fifth victory in six matches for the Lady Bulldogs, who will wrap up the regular season Friday when they take rival Cooper at Cougar Gym in a match that would have determined the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds out of 4-5A had the Lady Cougars defeated the Lady Mustangs. Instead, coach Shay Cox’s team locked up the No. 2 spot, avoiding a bi-district playoff match with region powers Amarillo High and Canyon Randall.
COLEMAN — Its football team was enjoying its best campaign in five years. It’s volleyball team was in the playoffs. It’s girls cross country team and two boys runners, were headed to the regional meet. Yet now, due to spike in COVID-19, Coleman High School has been forced to move to virtual learning until after Thanksgiving.
As a result, all of its extracurricular activities have been halted, putting an end to some notable athletic success for its fall sports lineup.
No football. No volleyball. No cross country. No band.
“My heart goes out to them,” Coleman AD-football coach Johnny Elder said. “I can imagine how they feel with all the dedication they’ve put into this program over the last three years and to not get to reap the reward of the Texas high school playoffs, which in our business is the greatest thing to do.
“I can’t express enough sorrow for them, our fans, our supporters and our parents. It’s just devastating to us. It’s not the way you picture anything ending. …It’s a helpless feeling to not be in control of your own destiny.”
Here are the updated Big Country volleyball playoff pairings and results through Nov. 28:
Continue reading “Big Country volleyball playoff pairings, results (Nov. 28)”
Over his time at Cooper, big numbers have become the norm for standout back Noah Garcia. The senior is, after all the Cougars’ all-time leading rusher with more 4,500 yards and 55 touchdowns to his credit.
But Friday’s performance in a 48-0 road win over Fort Worth Arlington Heights was noteworthy even by his standards.
In rushing for 172 yards and four touchdowns and adding a 48-yard touchdown reception in just over three quarters of action, Garcia accounted for 30 of his team’s 48 points.
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Facing Cooper at home for sole possession of second place in the District 4-5A standings, the Wylie volleyball team used a fast start and strong finish Wednesday to escape Bulldog Gym with a thrilling 25-13, 25-18, 18-25, 25-27, 15-11 victory.
In a match that was postponed a day by the Tuesday’s ice storm, the Lady Bulldogs (9-4 overall) held off a furious Lady Cougar rally to close out the first round of district play at 4-1 a stay within a match of district leader Lubbock Cooper (10-6, 5-0).
They pushed the Lady Coogs, meanwhile, into third place at 9-6 overall and 3-2 in a league play — a match ahead of fourth-place Lubbock Coronado.
The Abilene High and Odessa High volleyball teams have fought through adversity all season long and both returned to action on Wednesday night at Eagle Gym in search of a momentum-generating District 2-6A win to get in the playoff hunt.
AHS, which just ended a two-week quarantine, started off a brutal four-match stretch with a much needed 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19 win to move to fifth place in the district standings at 2-3.
Wednesday night’s win, coupled with San Angelo Central’s four-set win over Odessa Permian, leaves the Lady Eagles a game behind Central in the district standings.
Photos courtesy of Stephenville High School
Stephenville’s volleyball team took a major step forward by sweeping Brownwood on Friday night.
The 16th-ranked Honey Bees not only avenged their only district defeat, but also accomplished one of their goals in winning the 6-4A title.
Landri Withers has been an integral part of Stephenville’s success once again in 2020, but this time the junior has been making the biggest impact as an outside hitter.
Stephenville coach Shay Douglas said she changed her standout player’s role for multiple reasons that are beneficial both now and in the future.
San Saba quarterback Risien Shahan may have set an unconfirmed record on Friday — capturing the Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award with only 10 touches in a 47-0 win over De Leon.
Rushing five times for 185 yards and three touchdowns, the senior quarterback had a 3-of-5 night passing for 193 more yards and two additional scores. That’s 478 yards and five TDs in total offense in only 10 plays that saw him running or throwing.
Coleman continued its rampage in District 8-2A Tuesday night, beating Zephyr 25-13, 25-16, 25-11 to secure the Co-District championship at the Coleman Gym.
Abbi Allen had eight kills and Aislyn Cox charted two kills and two aces to lead the Bluekatts, who improved their record to 16-7 on the season and 13-2 in district.
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Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Wylie volleyball coach Shay Cox has plenty of experience leading teams in multiple sports — including a lengthy tenure as the softball coach at Abilene High.
On Tuesday night, Cox saw her volleyball squad struggle on the second service rotation in each set — much as a pitcher might do on the diamond — as the Lady Bulldogs were swept by Lubbock Cooper 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 in District 4-5A play at Bulldog Gymnasium.
The win allowed the Lady Pirates to take sole possession of the district lead at 3-0 while Wylie fell into a second place tie with city rival Cooper and Lubbock Coronado at 2-1.
The Cooper volleyball team took care of business Tuesday, cruising to a workmanlike 25-19, 25-14, 15-17 sweep of Lubbock High at Cougar Gym.
Needing a win to stay within a match of Tuesday’s Lubbock Cooper-Wylie winner in the District 4-5A standings, the Lady Cougars took control early and never relinquished it in improving to 8-5 overall and 2-1 in league play.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that send in their statistics after deadline will be added to the lists below as we continually update the database.
Imagine taking over for a popular, 24-year head coach. Then imagine inheriting a young team that has started 3-6 overall and 1-3 in District 2-6A. Oh yeah, your team also is currently sitting out for a two-week COVID-19 quarantine.
If there’s a first-year head coach who can put those challenges in perspective, it might be Devron Shepherd, who was promoted to head volleyball coach at Abilene High in May after serving three seasons as an assistant for Didi Pierce. Pierce won more than 500 matches in 24 years as the Eagles’ head coach.
“Didi is a great lady,” Shepherd said this week. “She paved the way so that it wasn’t hard for me to take over. She was organized in terms of the program in place and supportive of me.”
When I hear about someone having a direct hand in nine touchdowns, my first thought is: which six-man team does he play for?
But Sweetwater junior Leo Holsey managed it at the Class 4A level, on the road in a crucial 62-39 win at Pecos that clinched the District 1-4A DII championship.
Is he our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week?
Uh … yeah.
Holsey, who hit 11 of 15 throws for 283 yards and five touchdowns, was nearly as devastating with his feet, rushing for 233 yards and four more scores on only 11 carries.
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The Bangs Lady Dragons handily defeated Dublin Lady Tuesday night in four sets: 25-5, 14-25, 25-12, 25-19. 
Skylar Hutchins, had 23 digs, with additional help from Halle Lance and Jacee Miller to lead Bangs. The Lady Dragons’ offensive front capitalized on the help, with a total of 29 kills as a team.
“My girls started out really strong and were ready to come out and beat Dublin.” Bangs coach Cheyanne Lovelady said. “They were indeed ready as some of the girls showed out in a big way tonight, most notably from the serve line.”
Peyton Warren’s name is synonymous with Clyde volleyball.
The Lady Bulldogs’ program began eight years ago. Warren, who’s finishing up a stellar senior season, has been starting for half of that stretch.
As the curtain draws near on her final high school volleyball career, Warren admits there’s a different feeling now than in previous seasons.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that send in their statistics after deadline will be added to the lists below as we continually update the database.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Playing without first-year head coach Devron Shepherd, who missed the match for undisclosed reasons, the Abilene High volleyball team was swept by Midland Lee 25-18, 25-10, 25-13 in a District 2-6A matchTuesday at Eagle Gymnasium.
The Lady Eagles were able to trade shots early in each set with the Lady Rebels before Lee would come back with a quick run to take AHS out of the set.
AHS fell to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in district with the loss, while Lee improved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in district.
Photos courtesy of Kerr Broadstreet, WylieSports.com
A 5-1 start hardly tells the story of the Wylie volleyball season so far.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, less than an hour before Wylie was scheduled to host Wichita Falls Rider and Midland High in a nondistrict dual match, the Lady Bulldogs were informed they had to be quarantined until further notice because of a positive COVID-19 test of two staff members within the program.
The Wylie varsity and two JV teams were exposed to the positive testers during a bus trip to play at Aledo on Sept. 19.
Jennika Willis always feels there’s a sense of urgency to win when she walks on the volleyball court.
But like her fellow Cooper senior teammates, Willis recognizes the days of playing high school volleyball are dwindling.
“It is our senior year, so we definitely want to be more dominant as a senior class,” Willis said.
Willis and the Lady Cougars are off to a strong start in that respect, jumping out to a 5-3 mark entering Tuesday’s road match against Granbury. They only have one more week until District 4-5A action commences.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that send in their statistics after deadline will be added to the lists below as we continually update the database.
Prior to the game, the numbers pointed to a track meet. But nobody was prepared for the more than 1,600 yards in combined total offense produced in last week’s 91-71 Eastland victory over Panhandle.
It should come as no surprise that the Big Country Preps Player of the Week participated in this artillery barrage, disguised as a football game.
Eastland senior Behren Morton earns the top spot, after hitting 22 of 32 throws for 405 yards and five touchdowns. The Texas Tech-bound QB also rushed nine times for 196 yards and three scores and was 12 of 13 on extra points.
By night’s end, he had a direct hand in eight touchdowns and 60 points. And no, this was not a six-man football game.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eastland’s Behren Morton takes the top spot”
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
The De Leon Lady Cats continued to roll through their opposition this week by taking down another district opponent, the Zephyr Lady Bulldogs, in
straight sets, 25-14, 25-21, and 25-14.
“We played a little rough,” De Leon coach Kinsey Garcia said. “It wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go, but we started focusing on serves which helped us a bunch and we maintained our energy which was good and hopefully (we’d) just push more for the next game.”
CLYDE — The Clyde volleyball team picked up a big win on Tuesday night at Bulldog Gym, sweeping Jim Ned 25-13, 25-16, 25-16 to take the lead in District 6-3A.
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a quick start in each set, scoring at least the first three points of each one, and trailed for only a single point in the match (5-4 in the second set) as they improved to 13-6 on the year and 3-0 in league play.
Jim Ned, meanwhile, fell to 14-2 and 2-1 with the loss.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that send in their statistics after deadline will be added to the lists below as we continually update the database.
Photos courtesy of Kassi Westerman
Abby Benitez owns all the traits needed to excel at libero. 
The Snyder junior is described as fearless and determined by her high school coach. She’s unbelievably quick and a 5-foot-1 ball of energy.
“She doesn’t like to get beat on anything,” Snyder coach Mindi Bredemeyer said. “She’s definitely not a quitter, she doesn’t have it in her to quit at all.”
It’s no fluke Benitez is one of the Big Country’s top defenders, averaging an area-best 5.8 digs per set. Her presence is needed even more this year after the Lady Tigers were hit hard by graduation.
