Hays volleyball coach Erica Walther instructs her team during a recent practice. The Lady Rebs looked solid in several scrimmages over the weekend and are looking forward to playing in the Westwood tournament this weekend. (Photo by Jason Gordon)
by JASON GORDON
After five scrimmages over the course of two days last Friday and Saturday, the Hays volleyball team is ready for the regular season to begin.
The competition level will certainly be tough when Hays heads to the Westwood Warrior Showcase, which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
“Everybody is so excited about the fact we’re playing real games now,” said Lady Rebel outside hitter Kelsea Sadler. “We’re all pumped for the tournament. Tournaments always have a great atmosphere.”
At Westwood, Hays is pooled with El Paso Franklin, Hutto and Friendswood Clear Brook. The Lady Rebels’ pool play games will take place at Canyon Vista Middle School on Thursday, beginning against El Paso Franklin at 1 p.m.
Depending on how they do in pool play, the Lady Rebs will either be placed into the gold, silver or bronze bracket for Saturday’s tournament action.
“We always set out to try and win a tournament, but we definitely want to get into the gold or silver bracket and do well once we get there,” Hays head coach Erica Walther said. “We want to leave a tournament with confidence, feeling like we did a lot to get ourselves ready for district play. This is the kind of tournament that will do that because there are very good teams from all around the state to compete against.”
During their scrimmages last Friday, Hays traveled to New Braunfels to face off against the Unicorns, Canyon Lake High and San Antonio Johnson.
“I thought we looked really good overall,” Walther said. “We struggled some against New Braunfels’ speedy offense, but they are a solid Class 5A program. We were very good on offense. We are definitely a stronger team than we were a year ago at this time.”
Hays then hosted McCallum High and Pflugerville High on Saturday for the final two scrimmages of the preseason.
The Lady Rebels jumped out to a big lead against Pflugerville and easily won the first game thanks to steady defensive play from libero Sarah Reyes, crisp setting from sophomore Hannah Ramsey, and near error-free play from front-line members Sydney Paradeaux, Dezaray Garner, Kaylea Beck and Sadler.
“We came out on fire against Pflugerville, which is another big Class 5A team,” Walther said. “I think the way we played against them will definitely give us confidence heading into the Westwood Tournament.”
Sadler said the scrimmages will help the Lady Rebs this weekend.
“We got to see a lot of different teams and different styles,” Sadler said. “We saw fast offenses, slow offenses and scrappy defenses. We learned what we need to work on and that should make us ready to face whatever we happen to see this weekend.”
