The Lady Eagles varsity volleyball program spent the weekend playing in the Pflugerville Volleypfest where they found themselves against some tough competition. 

The opening match was against a talented Magnolia Lady Bulldogs team that won nearly 30 games last year in district 19-5A. Salado was up for the challenge and played a great match, but fell 19-25 and 19-25. With no time to catch their breath, another 5A in Abilene High and a 6A in Hutto were up next. Salado battled in both sets, but still fell in three sets in both matches with scores of 19-25, 25-23, and 21-25 against Abilene and 23-25, 25-19, and 26-28 against Hutto.

Day two of the tournament led to favorable matches for the Lady Eagles, but they would not play quite as well. They dropped the first match to Pflugerville in three sets again with scores of 21-25, 25-18, and 21-25. Salado would then go on to defeat Poth 25-21 and 26-24 in the first of two meetings on the weekend. In the second set against Poth, Sara Ellis recorded back-to-back aces to give the Lady Eagles an early 8-5 lead.  Reese Rich recorded 18 kills in the match. The Lady Eagles closed out play Aug. 19 with a crushing victory over Austin Travis 25-5 and 25-4. Salado totaled 17 aces in the match.

The Lady Eagles won two out of three matches in the bronze bracket on Aug. 20. With a tough matchup against Magnolia West in the opener, the Lady Eagles fell in three again (25-23, 15-25, and 19-25).   The second match-up of the day would go better for Salado as they handed Harker Heights a 25-22 and 25-18 straight sets loss. This set up a rematch with Poth in the consolation of the bronze bracket where Salado again prevailed convincingly 25-18 and 25-19.

Dual Match

The Salado Lady Eagles faced Lake Belton and Llano in a dual match at home on Aug. 16. The Lady Eagles battled in the first two sets, but ultimately could never settle in a rhythm falling 15-25 and 15-25. Salado would counter in the third with a gritty 25-23 win before dropping the fourth set 25-16. The second match of the evening would be very different as the Lady Eagles overpowered the Lady Jackets in straight sets (25-14, 25-14, and 25-19). Sophomore middle blocker Macy Morris would be a big arm against Lake Belton finishing with 7 kills and a pair of stuff blocks.  OH Reese Rich would also contribute 11 kills. In the Llano match, Haleigh Wilk would have a strong night with 8 kills and 14 assists. Adjacent setter, Livia Niu, would finish with 9 assists and 3 blocks. Freshman outside Haley Brown would also play well collecting 6 kills. DS Sara Ellis and Grace Clemons were a strong defensive unit for the Lady Eagles.

JV Red

Salado’s JV squad was outgunned by Lake Belton 16-25 and 9-25. They, too, would bounce back with a convincing 25-14 and 25-9 straight set victory over Llano later that evening. Sophomore London Woods would be a reliable hitter for the Lady Eagles along with aggressive serving from Karlee Konarik. Hustle by Shelby Hollywood and Elliot Self would be impressive as well.

JV White

The youngest JV team would have a similar story as they fell to Lake Belton in two (15-25, 20-25).  After falling behind Llano 20-23, the JV White Lady Eagles rallied to win the first set 27-25 before dominating the third set 25-9.

Reported by Clint Brown

Ladies win consolation of bronze bracket in Volleypfest