Pioneers take first at volleyball tournament

St. Philip's A team took first place in the El Campo Middle School Volleyball Tournament Saturday.

Wins over El Campo, Wharton and Palacios sealed the first-place trophy for the Pioneers.

Pioneers 2, El Campo 1

St. Philip made a great comeback to top the Lady 'Birds in the first round.

After losing the first game 21-19, the Pioneers were anchored by some great offense.

Rebecca Korenek served for 16 points while Sally Johnson added 13 and helped the Pioneers defeat El Campo 20-13 and 15-7 for the match win.

Pioneers 2, Wharton 1

St. Philip got off to a great start with a 20-6 win over Wharton.

The Lady Tigers came back in the second game to tie up the match with a 20-15 win, but that could not stop the Pioneers.

Korenek gave her team a boost with 6 points and 3 spikes in the game to help St. Philip claim the match with a 15-3 win.

Palacios 2, Pioneers 1

The third match of the event was the only loss for St. Philip.

Despite a great presence at the net by Johnson with 4 spikes, the Pioneers fell in 3 games.

Palacios took the first game 20-15, but St. Philip tied the match with a 20-10 win in the second game.

Palacios barely escaped with a win in the final game and held off St. Philip 15-12.

The loss still did not prevent the Pioneers from claiming first place in the tournament.

St. Philip earned some great statistics in the ECMS Tournament.

Korenek led the Pioneers in scoring with 41 total points while Johnson finished a close second with 31 points. Kirby Quintero scored 11 points, Lauren Gregurek scored 10, Amber Kresta scored 8, Kathryn Hancock scored 7, Shelby Snyder scored 6 and Paige Sparks and Jessica Fucik both scored 1 point.