RSS Feed |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All-Wharton County volleyball announced
The Lady 'Birds and Lady Hornets earned 14 total positions on this year's all-county roster. Leading the area's individual achievements was a Lady Bird and two members of the Lady Hornets. Meredith Bard, a junior at El Campo, became a dominant presence at the let for presence at the let for the Lady 'Birds. A second-year starter for the varsity team, Bard led the Lady 'Birds with 119 blocks and 156 digs. She also had 286 kills on the year.
"I think club really helped me," Bard said. "I played club for TEXstar and (my coach) really taught me to go after the ball and do my best to get it. And I wanted to be in a good leadership role because I knew there would be a lot of juniors on the team." El Campo finished just shy of a playoff spot this year. At 5-5 in district play, the Lady 'Birds finished fourth ahead of Bay City and Lamar Consolidated. "I thought we played well, but things just didn't always fall our way," Bard said. "We played hard, but sometimes it just didn't work out." Bard said her most memorable moment of the year was Sept. 18, beating Foster, the defending district champion and eventual runner up this year, to start district play 1-0. "Beating Foster was good," she said. "We were behind 2-0 and we got some bad line calls, but we came through and beat them. It was pretty cool." Sarah Williamson earned the top award for the Lady Hornets. She helped lead Louise to a 24-13 overall record including a 10-0 record in district.
Williamson downplayed the impact a senior can have on team when talking about Louise. She said underclassmen are consistent leaders for the Lady Hornets as well. "I guess it's really important, but I was kind of a leader last year too," Williamson said. "It was really cool being a leader of the team, but we all picked each other up. I wasn't the only one. When I got down, they picked me up." Bryan Branch was named county coach of the year. He helped the Lady Hornets make the playoffs for the first time since the program was reinstated. Louise received a first-round bye with a 28-A District Championship and defeated Thrall in the second round. The Lady Hornets' season came to an end in the third round in a loss to Shiner. Branch gave credit to his team for their success this season and said they are the reason he was named all-county coach.
"Many parents have told me I've done a good job this year. I keep saying, 'Well, I just tell them what to do and they go out and do it.' I don't make one pass or one serve or one hit or one kill. They just go out there and they're very coachable." The biggest impact Branch has had on the team, Williamson said, is to instill a winning mentality. As the smallest school in Wharton County, confidence has been hard to achieve in the past. "In any sport, that is our problem," Williamson said. "We're so good athletic-wise, but it's all in our heads because we're so little. All these years, we've been losing and we've gotten so used to it. He just totally changed our mentality about everything and he totally turned us around." El Campo and Louise earned three total nominations on the county's first team.
She missed the first match with an injury. It took several matches until she was able to go on the court again. "I tried to start off the season being a leader and then I didn't get to play for the first 10 games," Zboril said. "I knew what I was capable of. I knew that I could be the best and kept going." Amber Bain and Kirsten Machicek both made first team their sophomore years. The two girls played for Louise their freshman year and Machicek was named as the county's newcomer in 2006. The Lady Hornet offense ran through Machicek on every play. She set up Williamson and Bain all season long and led Louise with 1,312 assists. Machicek said she enjoyed playing with her teammates in her second year on varsity. "We're all friends and we have this special bond," she said. "We all laugh at everything and it's just so fun. Everybody is the same. Nobody is out and doing their own thing." Bain agreed that the team chemistry was great for Louise. She said it helped them have success.
Bain was the Lady Hornets most improved player this year. After limited time as a freshman on varsity, she used her size and strength as an advantage her sophomore year to lead Louise with 629 kills and 188 blocks. The improvement in a year's time surprised her. "I really didn't expect it," Bain said. "I just came into the season and I wasn't very good at all. I guess I got a lot better. It's not just me, it's Coach Branch too." El Campo earned two selections on the second all-county team. Kaylan Gangl and Kelsey Gangl both made the team as hitters. In their senior season, Kaylan and Kelsey Gangl helped lead El Campo with a strong presence at the net. Kelsey Gangl finished the year with 187 total kills. She was a strong server for the Lady 'Birds throughout the year. She scored a team-high 414 points including 60 aces.
Honorable mention went to El Campo's Kristi Michaelsen, Stephanie Korenek and Alexis Cooper. All three helped lead the Lady 'Birds through their senior season. Michaelsen spent much of her time on the court as El Campo's setter. She also was a strong server and finished with 242 total points and 10 aces. Korenek was one of the team's most consistent servers. She scored 232 points and made 26 aces on the year. Her backrow defense also improved with 87 total digs. Cooper played libero for the Lady 'Birds through the season. She covered the court to make 123 digs on the year. Louise's Lauren Gresham, Katie Brown and Gabby Foster also earned honorable mention. Gresham, a senior, played libero for the Lady Hornets and finished the year with 175 digs. Foster become a strong presence at the net in her sophomore season. She made 34 kills and also earned 78 digs while covering the floor.
Members of the All-Wharton County Volleyball Team were chosen by the sports editors of the El Campo Leader-News and Wharton Journal-Spectator and based on individual statistics and overall team success.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)