Central finishes second, Wall third at Nita Vannoy Memorial Volleyball Tournament
San Angelo Central and Wall have both dropped just two matches so far this year and both programs came away with hardware Saturday at the Nita Vannoy Memorial Volleyball Tournament.
Central and Wall finished in second and third place, respectively, as both teams are off to hot starts and spots in the Texas Girls Coaches Association state rankings. The Lady Cats are ranked No. 17 in the Class 6A coaches’ poll while Wall is No. 7 in Class 3A.
Central, which was in the tournament finals for the first time since 2019 and looking for its first title since 2018, fell in straight sets to El Paso Pebble Hills in the championship match of the Gold Bracket.
“I think we have our program moving in the right direction,” said head coach Julie Williams, who is in her third season since taking over in 2020, the so-called COVID year in which tournament play was hugely restricted. “Last year, coming out of COVID, it still felt a little weird and we were a little behind but we’re finally starting to catch up and be Lady Cat volleyball.
“I feel like good things are coming for us,” Williams said.
Wall beat El Paso Montwood in three sets to claim third place, the Lady Hawks’ best finish at the tournament in the program’s 11th season.
Check out the2022 Nita Vannoy Memorial Volleyball Tournament Results
Head coach Robynn Jones, who is going into her seventh season for the Lady Hawks, said the state ranking has given her team confidence, which helped them rebound from a loss in the semifinals and a second-set loss in the third-place match.
“We didn’t feel like we were behind,” said Jones, whose team trailed by a point or two for most of the decisive third set. “If we wouldn’t have looked at the scoreboard, we wouldn’t have known we were behind. We still had the confidence. We still felt like we had the momentum. The points (Montwood) had were good but we still felt confident in our game plan, our defense and what we were doing with our blocking schemes. And we felt like we could put the ball down with our passes. Our passes were great today.”
While the 40-team tournament is always a draw for top 5A and 6A teams from West Texas, it’s also a place where the best smaller schools in the area test themselves before district play starts.
Wink, the No. 1 team in Class 2A, beat 6A Odessa High to win the championship of the Silver Bracket while Veribest, the No. 5-ranked team in Class 1A, won the consolation title. Both were state semifinalists last year in their respective classifications.
Class 4A San Angelo Lake View won the consolation title in the Bronze Bracket.
Lake View opened Bronze Bracket play with a loss to Pecos, but bounced back with wins over Sterling City and Lubbock High to finish the tournament on a win. The Maidens swept the Lady Westerners 25-22, 25-21.
Water Valley took first place in the Bronze Challenger Bracket while Miles finished third. Water Valley is competing in Class 2A after the last UIL realignment bumped the Lady Wildcats. They were two-time Class 1A state semifinalists in 2018 and 2019.
Sonora, which was realigned into 2A, dropped three matches on Friday to fall to the Copper Bracket but bounced back with three wins on Saturday, including the championship game against 4A Sweetwater.
Central, which has made the championship game of its two tournaments so far this year, improved to 11-2.
The Lady Cats were coming off a second-place finish at the Crowley tournament and sailed into the Gold Bracket finals before falling to El Paso Pebble Hills 25-20, 25-17.
“Making it into the championship is a huge step for us and for our program,” the Central coach said. “Last year, we were in the silver, but this is a totally different year, it’s a totally different team and it’s a big step in the right direction for our program. These girls work hard and they deserve to be here, to be one of the top eight teams in the tournament, and they played like it today…They’re a fun team to coach.”
The Lady Cats spotted Pebble Hills an early lead in the first set but pulled back within 21-20 with four consecutive points. Pebble Hills, however, reeled off the next four points to stop the Central rally.
In the second game, Central led 7-3 after a monster kill up from sophomore outside hitter Emilee Sikora, who was one of the top returners from last year after earning newcomer of the year in District 2-6A.
Pebble Hills, however, outscored Central 22-10 the rest of the way to avoid a third set in front of the raucous home crowd.
Varsity newcomer Shawntiel Watson, one of eight seniors for Central, was a force in the middle and has been a big part of the Lady Cats’ hot start, the coach said.
“I think we played a little too timid in the beginning,” Williams said. “Midway through the second game, we really started swinging and finding a groove on offense but we have to be a team that makes adjustments earlier. We have to be aggressive on offense, not be passive. We have good hitters.”
Wall, which first played in the Nita Vannoy 10 years ago, advanced to the Gold Bracket for the first time last year and improved on that by getting to the semifinals before falling to the eventual champ 25-21, 25-17.
The Lady Hawks (15-2) rebounded by beating El Paso Montwood 25-16, 18-25, 25-23 in the third-place match.
Wall tried to control the tempo from the get-go against Montwood.
“We usually start off pretty strong in the first set,” said sophomore middle hitter Sloane Paugh, whose rapid-fire serving to start the match took the Montwood receive game off guard.
Jones said after the Lady Hawks have been dumped in the second round of the playoffs two consecutive years to Holliday, she has tried to tailor their game to be ready for the playoffs.
“We found that it’s the key for us to start fast and keep up pace,” the coach said. “We don’t think about our mistakes so much and we’re able to move on better and think about the next ball. We know we’re going to need that because (Holliday’s) pace was so hard to mimic in practice.”
The Lady Hawks also have switched from a 4-2 offensive set to a 5-1, with single setter Emma McShan.
“We have a lot more offensive sets so our offense has more variety,” McShan said.
Paugh added, “We have some people in different positions than last year which I think has been more beneficial, it uses their strengths better…This is only the beginning, we’re just now started to get used to each other.”
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Central finished second, Wall third
