HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL / WEDNESDAY UPDATE | Kilgore preps for important run; Overton wins again; Sabine slips to a good ETHS team

Oct. 13—Running into Bullard in volleyball is always a challenge, and while Kilgore did put up a fight, the District 16-4A defending champ did go over once again Tuesday night, on their senior night.

Bullard defeated Kilgore in three sets, two of them close, 25-10, 25-21, 27-25. The Lady Panthers look to successfully defend their title, as the regular season is winding down very quickly.

Kilgore (3-6 in 16-4A play) has to earn one of the top four spots in the six-team district to get into the University Interscholastic League's Class 4A playoffs. It may be as the fourth seed: Bullard, Lindale, Spring Hill, and Henderson are all currently in front of the Lady 'Dogs, with three regular season games left.

KHS will host Chapel Hill this Friday, starting with varsity at 4:30. Next week, the Lady 'Dogs host Lindale on Tuesday night, starting with freshmen at 4:30, and then Kilgore visits Henderson in the regular season finale next Friday, Oct. 22, again starting with varsity, since it's a Friday.

The Lady Bulldogs have made the postseason in the previous two years under coach Madeline Harris, in her third year in the post. Kilgore hasn't missed the playoffs since 2016, and has made the playoffs five of the last six seasons.

Against Bullard, freshman Brooke Couch, Bryonne Brooks and Summer Hayden-Epps each had five kills, and Maleah Thurmond and Catherine Dennis each had four. Couch and Dennis each had seven digs; Dennis also had a block and an ace. Hayden-Epps had five digs; Brooks had three; and Thurmond had two, and a block.

Also for the Lady 'Dogs, Ashton Vallery had 11 assists, seven digs, and a kill; Jazmine Vasquez had 16 digs; Alana Mumphrey had eight assists and two digs; Isabell Witt had five digs; Nawny Sifford had four; Fyndi Henry had two; and Maddison Harris had one.

Late last week, on Friday, Kilgore had swept Cumberland Academy, 25-17, 25-21, 25-10.

Thurmond had five kills, a block, an assist and two digs. Hayden-Epps, Couch and Brooks each had four kills — Hayden-Epps and Couch each had three digs, as well.

Also for Kilgore, Dennis had three kills, nine digs, three assists and an ace; Henry had seven digs and an ace; Mumphrey had a kill and four assists; Vallery had nine assists, 15 digs and seven aces; Vasquez had nine digs and an ace; Sifford had four digs; Witt had three; and Harris had five.

Overton: The Lady Mustangs are getting it done — Overton got its seventh district win Tuesday night at Big Sandy, in four sets: 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23.

Overton moves to 7-2 in district play (in Class 2A) and 23-11 overall. They'll play at Union Hill on Friday, starting at 4:30.

Mary Fenter had 16 kills, 27 digs and two assists. Kayla Nobles had eight kills and two blocks. Alex Brown had seven kills, 18 digs and an ace. Kaley McMillian had five kills, two blocks, five digs, 34 assists and three aces. And Avery Smith had three kills, 21 digs and an ace.

Last Friday, Overton won at Carlisle, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 25-12.

Fenter had 18 kills, 26 digs and four aces for Overton. Nobles had 14 kills, a block and four digs. Brown had eight kills, 10 digs and three aces, and McMillian had four kills, 17 digs, 32 assists and three aces.

Sabine: The Lady Cardinals stepped out of district play, where they've won three of their last five, and ran into a scrappy East Texas Homeschool Lady Chargers team. ETHS managed to hang on and beat Sabine in four sets, 22-25, 27-25, 28-26, 25-19.

From M. Roberts Media on the matchup:

Meredith Corley and Hannah Simpson combined for 45 assists, Jordan Parker and Jenna Cleveland had a combined 38 kills and the East Texas Homeschool Lady Chargers rallied for a win over the Sabine Lady Cardinals.

Corley had 29 assists, 11 points and four aces, Simpson 16 assists, 11 points, eight digs and two aces, Jordan Parker 20 kills, 18 digs and three blocks and Cleveland 18 kills, four digs, four blocks and three points.

Abby Campbell chipped in with 12 digs, six kills, six points and two aces for ET Homeschool. Jenna Parker had a team-leading 32 digs to go along with four points. Rebekah Dragoo added 10 points and 16 digs, Skye Cotton five points, six digs and two kills, Sydney Cunningham three digs and three kills and Jourdan Sikorski five digs.

Sabine will be back in district play Friday at home against Daingerfield, starting with varsity at 4:30. The Lady Cardinals are 23-12 overall and 6-2 in district play.

Last Friday, Sabine scored a big win over Gladewater, 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-13.

Again, from M. Roberts Media reports:

Ally Gresham came up with 24 digs, surpassing 1,000 for her career, and the Sabine Lady Cardinals earned a win over Gladewater.

Gresham also had two kills and two assists for Sabine. Cale Brown finished with nine kills and six blocks, Maddie Furrh 18 kills and four digs, Kathryn Dalby five kills and 10 blocks, Ella Roberts three kills, four blocks and one service error in 29 attempts, Caitlyn Stewart 36 kills, four blocks and two digs, Katie Stansberry three digs, Peyton Childress seven kills and two digs, Bella Shaw two digs and Kaleigh Carney one dig.