@ CarrolltonNewmanSmithHigh School. On Saturday, Richardson ISD and Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD held their combined 8th grade midseason volleyball tournament at NewmanSmithHigh School. North (JJ Pearce feeder), Park Hill (JJ Pearce feeder), and Westwood (Richardson feeder) all began the tournament with undefeated regular season records. At the end of the day, when the smoke cleared, Coach Summer Foley’s Westwood Lady Warriors stood alone on the court to receive their first place trophy. Here is a recap of the tournament…Let’s pick up the action in the quarterfinal round, where the most competitive match was LakeHighlands and Park Hill (JJ Pearce feeder). Park Hill won the first set, but Coach Gladys Johnson’s Wildcats battled back to win the second game. In the third set, Park Hill was the fresher team and made the least errors as they stayed in control throughout the set to win the match and move on to the semi-finals. Other quarterfinal winners were North (JJ Pearce feeder), Westwood (Richardson feeder) and Field (RL Turner feeder).
In the semifinal round, Westwood made quick work of Field in two sets, to move into the championship round. In the other semifinal match, North and Park Hill faced off in a three set match, where every set was close. In the end North hung on for a 26-24 win, after blowing a 20-15 lead and allowing Park Hill to tie the score at 24 all.
In the consolation side of the bracket, the Blalack Bears (Creekview feeder) regrouped after a very close first round loss to Park Hill, where they blew a 24-22 lead in the first set, to defeat Bush (Ranchview feeder), Forest Meadow (Lake Highlands feeder), and Apollo (Berkner feeder). The victory over Apollo in the Consolation Finals match ended a surprisingly strong day for Blalack, whose defense and passing made the difference in their matches. Park Hill defeated Field to take 3rd place in the tournament.
The tournament finals pitted 6-0 North against 7-0 Westwood. Coming into the match, Westwood had defeated Richardson West (Richardson feeder), Long (Creekview feeder), and Field. In addition to Park Hill, North had defeated Bush Middle School (getting a bye in the quarterfinals). The first set started out close, with Westwood overcoming some early serve/receive difficulties to pull away with a 25-21 victory. In that first set, with Westwood clinging to a 23-21 lead, Maggie Joyce who had been clutch all day for the Lady Warriors with her passing, jump serving and powerful kills, scored on a serving Ace and then Devinne Miller scored the winning point, on a kill from the right side. In the 2nd set, Westwood maintained the lead throughout the early part of the the match with the help of Erin Terry’s effective serving and good defense by Sydney Chris. However, North never gave up and rallied from 4 points down to take the lead at 22-21. Westwood battled to reclaim the lead at 23-22. Anna Fields nice pass to setter Shelby Starks resulted in a Julianna Washington kill and a 24-22 lead. Westwood was not to be denied the victory, as middle blocker Rachel Fleming got the game winning kill on another set from Shelby after a great serve/receive pass from Anna to win the final set 25-23.
Congratulations to the Midseason tournament champion Westwood Lady Warriors and Coach Foley!
