First and foremost, we want to give a huge shout out to the Division 1 champion Christ Academy and Division 2 champion Ovilla Christian High School. I unfortunately did not have a chance to catch these matches since I drove down Friday morning (and these matches were played on Thursday).

On Friday, I was able to make the 6A semifinal matches featuring Prestonwood Christian Academy vs Parish Episcopal and Antonian Prep vs Bishop Lynch. First up was the PCA vs Epicopal match. PCA came into the match as the No. 5 ranked program in our vballrecruiter.com Top 50 HS National Rankings. The national powerhouse program swept the match (25-14, 25-15, 25-19) behind junior USC commit and outside Hitter Jadyn Livings, junior Michigan commit and setter Camille Edwards, junior TCU commit and outside hitter Mikala Young, 5-star outside hitter Cari Spears, 5-star libero Gillian Pitts, junior 4-star middle blocker Kennedy Washington and sophomore 4-star setter Taylor Cook. Episcopal was led by senior UCLA beach signee and setter Harper Cooper, senior libero Fiona Kelly, senior outside hitter Sarah Pickett and sophomore 3-star middle blocker Reese Jackson. The connection between Cooper and Jackson was very effective.

The second 6A semifinal was between Antonian Prep and Bishop Lynch, which ended up with the sweep 25-16, 25-20, 25-22. Bishop Lynch was led by senior Providence College signee and middle blocker Lyric Berry, senior Arizona beach signee outside hitter Ashlyn Zilliken, senior UWash signee and outside hitter Leah Oyewole, junior Arkansas commit and outside hitter Lauryn Lambert, junior Brown commit and opposite Paloma Gonzalez, junior setter Cate Hatfield, junior defensive specialist Delaney Moon and sophomore 4-star libero Maddie Smotherman. Antonian Prep was scrappy as heck and was led by senior libero Incarnate Word signee Hailey Garza, senior outside hitter Sujeili Mermella, senior middle blocker Sydney Barber, senior setter Jaiden Lavanway, senior setter Desiree Camargo and junior 4-star outside hitter Kalina Calvillo.

After watching the semifinals, I headed over to the other location for the 3-5A finals. First up was Round Rock Christian Academy vs Dallas Lutheran. RRCA captured the state title in four sets, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-19. RRCA was led by senior outside hitter Ryann Holley, senior setter Reagan Sawyer, senior outside hitter Savannah Johnson and senior UMHB beach signee and libero Kelli Northup. Dallas Lutheran was led by senior Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach signee Millie Olsson, Lauren Pittman and Ava Pope.

Next up was the 4A state title match between Grace Prep Academy and Brentwood Christian. Talk about a nail biter! GPA defeated Brentwood in five, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 14-25, 15-12. GPA was led by senior middle blocker Lacy Young, junior 4-star libero Savanna Stevens, junior outside hitter Maya Kelly and junior outside hitter Kalli Smith. Brentwood Christian was led by senior outside hitter Ashlynn Alvarado, junior libero Aubrey Acheson and freshman outside hitter Claire Montgomery.

The last match on Friday night was the 5A state title match between Liberty Christian School and Fort Bend Christian Academy. Liberty Christian defeated Fort Bend Christian in four, 25-18, 16-25, 25-20, 25-21. Liberty Christian was led by senior Houston signee and setter Reagan Fifer, senior middle blocker Austen Goodgion, junior outside hitter Tally Grissom, sophomore 4-star opposite Naya Salfiti and sophomore libero Quinnly Heinsen. Fort Bend was led by senior setter Emma Pekar, junior outside hitter Cambry Gerardi, 5-star middle blocker Bayleigh Minor and sophomore outside hitter Layne Bulow.

On Saturday, the final state title match was played when Prestonwood Christian squared off against Bishop Lynch for the 6A championship. These two teams had already met twice this season and PCA defeated BL in five and four games, respectively. Needless to say both squads knew their opponents well. And the same stars shined in this title match. PCA ended up sweeping BL, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20, to capture the 6A title. And let me tell you there was some incredible volleyball played on both sides of the court!

Show Stoppers

Ryann Holley SR OH – Round Rock Christian

Savannah Johnson SR OH – Round Rock Christian

Millie Olsson SR OH – Dallas Lutheran (TAMCC Beach Signee)

Aubrey Acheson JR L – Brentwood Christian

Savanna Stevens JR L – Grace Prep Academy

Maya Kelly JR OH – Grace Prep Academy

Bayleigh Minor SO MB – Fort Bend Christian

Emma Pekar SR S/Opp – Fort Bend Christian

Tally Grissom JR OH – Liberty Christian

Reagan Fifer SR S/Opp – Liberty Christian (Houston Signee)

Naya Salfiti SO Opp – Liberty Christian

Lauryn Lambert JR OH – Bishop Lynch (Arkansas Commit)

Leah Oyewole SR Opp – Bishop Lynch (UWash Signee)

Lyric Berry SR MB – Bishop Lynch (Providence College)

Paloma Gonzalez JR Opp – Bishop Lynch (Brown Commit)

Jadyn Livings JR OH – Prestonwood Christian (USC Commit)

Mikala Young JR OH – Prestonwood Christian (TCU Commit)

Camille Edwards JR S – Prestonwood Christian (Michigan Commit)

Macaria Spears SO OH – Prestonwood Christian

Gillian Pitts SO L – Prestonwood Christian

Harper Cooper SR S/Opp – Parish Episcopal (UCLA Beach Commit)

Hailey Garza SR L – Antonian Prep (Incarnate Word Signee)