The playoffs may not begin until next week, but as far as the New Waverly volleyball squad is concerned, the postseason starts now.
The Lady Dogs and Anderson-Shiro play today in a tiebreaker for second place in District 21-2A at 3 p.m. at Madisonville High School.
“We haven’t talked that much about Anderson as far as plan and strategy,” New Waverly head coach Stacy Hill said on Thursday. “It was more about staying mentally tough. That’s something we’ve struggled with all year long. It’s going to be tough to stay mentally tough the whole match, especially in this atmosphere we’re going to be in. If we maintain the focus that we had this morning (in practice), we’re going to be incredibly, incredibly hard to beat.”
New Waverly and Anderson-Shiro played twice this season with the home team coming away with the victory. In their most recent meeting on Oct. 20, the Lady Dogs defeated the Lady Owls in four games.
“When you’re playing somebody in your district that you’ve already played twice, it really brings out your best and it can help out these girls mentally,” Hill said. “They’re going to have to fight because Anderson’s just as fired up over there as we are and we’re not going to be able to take anything lightly or for granted.
“Anderson’s a really good team. They deserve a lot of respect because they’re very good and they’re a very smart team. They’ve got a couple of middle hitters that are pretty good. They’ve got a couple of girls that tip a lot and tip well. They’re just a smart group of girls,” the coach added. “It’ll be two evenly matched teams going head-to-head. There’s pressure on us because we want to finish in second place and we want to win in that moment.”
Ever since losing in straight sets to third-ranked Centerville on Oct. 9, New Waverly has been rolling. The Lady Bulldogs (10-4 in district play, 19-12 overall) have won four of their last five matches with the only setback coming against Trinity last week in a five-set affair.
“We’re coming together,” sophomore libero Kali Pavelock said. “We weren’t talking in that match against Trinity. We’re hoping to be the better team against Anderson.
“We’re hoping to improve everywhere. If we can do a good job with our passes, we should be all right. We have to come out ready to play. We can beat them if we play like we know how.”
The Lady Dogs do not know who their first-round playoff opponent will be. It will be either Kirbyville or Hemphill, teams that are breaking a tie tonight to decide second and third place in District 22-2A.
“I’m excited because I’ve never been in the playoffs before. It’s my first time,” Pavelock said.
Not only is New Waverly looking to win to have some momentum going into next week’s playoffs, but the Lady Dogs also are playing to be the second-best team out of 21-2A.
“It’s a lot about pride,” Hill added. “We fought really hard to stay where we were all season. A lot of people counted us out before the season ever started. The girls took that and fed off that.
“They know this is the first time in a long time that the volleyball girls can go out and get some respect. I think Saturday, if we win, we’ll prove we’re one of the top two teams in our district.”
Sports
Postseason begins for Lady Dogs today
New Waverly to battle Anderson-Shiro in playoff for second place in district
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Raring to go
They’re as ready as they’re going to be. With two weeks to prepare from their district meet, the Huntsville swimmers will take the next step toward qualifying for state today. Over the next two days, a group of Hornets and Lady Hornets will take part in the Class 4A Region V swimming meet at the Magnolia I.S.D. Natatorium with the preliminaries taking place today and the finals on Saturday.
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Next week’s playoff matchups all set
After spending countless hours in the gym, the hard work has paid off for both the girls basketball teams from Huntsville and New Waverly. Now the fun begins as the Class 4A and 2A girls basketball playoffs get going next week.
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OUTGUNNED: First-place Mavericks shoot down Sam Houston, run winning streak to 14
Texas-Arlington had an answer for every Sam Houston run Wednesday night on the way to a 75-63 victory over the Bearkats. It was the Mavericks’ 14th consecutive win and improved their Southland Conference record to 10-0.
The last team to start league action with such perfection was Sam Houston in 2010, a team which won the conference’s regular season as well as the postseason tournament championship. -
Championship salute
The Southland Conference champs from Sam Houston State received special recognition on Wednesday night for the most successful football season in school history.
Huntsville Mayor Mac Woodward, SHSU President Dana Gibson and Walker County Judge Danny Pierce were among those who honored the Bearkats during halftime of the Bearkats’ basketball game against Texas-Arlington.
Woodward declared Feb. 8 Bearkat Pride Day. -
Bearkat women win again, 61-45
Britni Martin scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Sam Houston State to a 61-45 Southland Conference women’s basketball victory over UT-Arlington on Wednesday at the new UTA College Park Center in Arlington.
All four of Martin’s field goals were 3-pointers and the junior forward from Conroe went 6-of-6 from the foul line to post her 17th double-figure scoring performance of the season. -
Alive and kicking
For the third consecutive game, the Hornets played like a team that does not want basketball season to end anytime soon.
Desperate to notch another victory over Willis, the Huntsville boys jumped on the Wildkats early. The Hornets used their muscle and started pulling away in the second half, then when Willis made a late rally, Huntsville’s hungry bunch had enough energy left to hold off the Wildkats in a wild 76-63 victory at the Paul Bohan Hornet Gym. -
Lady Hornets roll through district undefeated again
The Lady Hornets did it again. For the second consecutive season, the Huntsville girls basketball team rolled through District 18-4A play without a loss.
On Tuesday night in Willis, the Lady Hornets closed out another perfect 14-0 district campaign with an 86-33 win over the LadyKats. -
New Waverly seniors close out regular season in style
In their final game of the regular season, the Lady Bulldogs just enjoyed themselves in a 60-46 win over Anderson-Shiro.
This was a team New Waverly beat on the road earlier in the season and a win in “Bulldog Country” would be the appropriate way to send out seniors Myeisha Williams, Morgan Eastland, Whitney McCullough and Alex Abbott. - More Sports Headlines
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