Seguin and Marion advance to volleyball area rounds

(San Antonio) — The Seguin Lady Matador volleyball team is moving on to the Area round after sweeping past San Antonio John Jay in the Class 5A Division 1 Bi-District playoff on Tuesday night.

The Lady Mats won the match 25-23, 25-19, 25-13. Seguin advances to the area round for the first time since 2018.

Down 15-18 in the first set, the Lady Matadors took a time out and would go on a 10-5 run to win the set. Seguin would use that momentum to jump out to an early 11-5 lead in the second set. Jay would briefly take a lead in the set, but the Lady Mats would rally again to go up 2-0. With a lead, Seguin kept their foot on the gas in the third set to power past the Lady Mustangs and take the playoff match.

Senior Karina Lerma led the Lady Mats with 18 kills. Lerma ran up her total using a number of drops shots around the Lady Mustang tall front line to find open spots on the Jay side of the court.

Seguin head coach Ashley Farris said Lerma was able to confuse the Lady Mustang defense.

“That’s what a pin hitter has to do. She did an excellent job switching up everything. Their defense could not read her So, she just did a great job executing.”

Lady Matador sophomore Ellie Anderson had four service aces on the night. Two of those came at the end of the second set to give Seguin a commanding lead going into the final set. Anderson also led Seguin with five blocks. Junior Gisele Morales topped the Lady Mats with 31 assists. Lerma had 24 digs to pace Seguin in that category.

The Lady Mats will next play Smithson Valley in the Area round. The Lady Rangers swept past Hays on Tuesday night to advance to the second round. The area round match between Seguin and Smithson Valley will take place Friday at New Braunfels Canyon High School. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

(Devine) — In the Class 3A Division 1 Bi-District playoffs, the Marion Lady Bulldogs won a five-set thriller over 24th-ranked Crystal City at Devine High School on Tuesday.

The Lady Bulldogs came back from down two sets to one to take the match 12-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 15-12. The playoff victory was the first for Marion in seven years.

Junior Madi Love had 22 kills to lead the Lady Bulldogs. Senior Bristin Birdwell led Marion with 42 digs. And junior Ellie Parker set up her hitters leading the Lady Bulldogs with 45 assists.

Marion will next take on Goliad in the area round. The match will be held Thursday at Pleasanton High School. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

(Pleasanton) — And the Navarro Lady Panthers, winners over Lago Vista on Monday in the Class 4A Division 2 Bi-District round, will play Devine on Thursday in the Area round.

The Lady Panthers defeated Devine with a sweep in the regular season on September 10th at Navarro High School. Devine and Navarro will play on Thursday also at Pleasanton High School. First serve in that Area round match is set for 8 p.m.