Arabian taken consolation in Championship Bracket at Round-Up

Last weekend, Devine hosted the 19th Annual Arabian Round-Up, after pool play on Thursday and a long day of bracket play on Saturday, the Arabian won consolation in the Championship Bracket! After this tournament the Arabians sit at 12-5 with nearly a month left before district starts. SA Feast was the overall winner and Natalia won the Consolation bracket.
Before the tournament, the Arabians faced Poteet on Tuesday and won in three sets, 25-21, 25-14, and 25-7. “Took us a while to get in our groove and play at our tempo, but once we did it was great!” said Coach Leigh Anne McIver.
Zoe Gonzales 7 kills. Avery Cruz 2 aces, 7 digs, 4 assists. Rylee Esquibel 14 kills, 3 aces, 7 digs. Kristina Morales 5 digs. Bailey Oropeza 2 digs. Darian Alvarez 4 kills. Brooklyn Miller 7 kills, 3 digs. Macey Hein 3 kills, 3 aces, 13 digs, 37 assists. Brianna Torres 1 kill, 1 dig. Skylar Blanton 8 kills, 1 block, 1 dig. Cece Martinez 2 aces, 9 digs.
On Thursday, the Arabians faced Center Point, Jourdanton, and Bandera in pool play. Opening the pool play against Center Point, Devine was ready and took them down 25-12 and 25-15. Devine earned 26 of their points off of kills including 13 kills from Rylee Esquibel.
Gonzales 4 kills, 1 dig. Cruz 1 ace, 6 digs. Esquibel 13 kills, 7 digs. Morales 5 digs. Oropeza 2 aces, 4 digs. Alvarez 1 assist. Miller 2 kills, 1 block. Hein 3 kills, 1 ace, 6 digs, 20 assists. Blanton 4 kills. Martinez 1 ace, 7 digs.
Jourdanton was not ready for Devine to dig out all of their spikes and easily take the win at 25-19 and 25-16. The Arabians earned 40 digs off of the Squaws.
Gonzales 6 kills, 1 dig. Cruz 12 digs. Esquibel 4 kills, 7 digs. Moralez 1 ace, 5 digs. Alvarez 3 kills, 1 block, 1 dig. Miller 4 kills, 1 dig. Hein 2 kills, 2 blocks, 8 digs, 20 assists. Blanton 2 digs, Martinez 3 digs.
Devine’s only stumble came in the first set against Bandera. Dropping it 16-25, they rallied back and won the last sets 25-20 and 25-22. Alvarez, Hein, and Blanton earned blocks against the Bulldogs.
Gonzales 6 kills, 1 dig. Cruz 14 digs. Esquibel 11 kills, 5 digs. Moralez 3 digs. Oropeza 1 dig. Alvarez 2 kills, 1 block, 3 digs. Miller 8 kills. Hein 1 kill, 2 aces, 1 block, 5 digs, 25 assists. Blanton 2 kills, 1 block. Martinez 2 aces, 10 digs.
“We played some great volleyball today!!! We were able to be real aggressive on offense and really was able to correct some little things on defense. I feel like our serve receive got better as the day went along. We were able to come back against Bandera after making a lot of errors in the first set. The girls really competed today,” said Coach McIver about Thursday’s games.
On Saturday, the Arabians faced Ingram, Edison, and Bandera. Devine lost their first game of the day to Ingram at18-25 and 15-25.
Gonzales 5 kills. Cruz 14 digs. Esquibel 5 kills, 1 block, 4 digs. Moralez 6 digs. Oropeza 1 dig. Alvarez 1 kill. Miller 2 kills, 2 digs. Hein 2 kills. 5 digs, 14 assists. Blanton 1 dig. Martinez 2 digs.
Edison was up next for Devine and the Arabians quickly defeated them at 25-21 and 25-18. The Arabians worked hard to stay in the tournament and dug out every ball they could, totaling 40 team digs.
Gonzales 6 kills. Cruz 11 digs. Esquibel 10 kills, 1 ace, 9 digs. Moralez 1 ace, 8 digs. Oropeza 1 ace, 1 dig. Alvarez 4 kills, 1 block, 1 dig. Miller 1 kill, 1 block, 1 dig. Hein 3 kills, 1 ace, 6 digs, 23 assists. Blanton 3 kills. Martinez 2 aces, 3 digs.
In the consolation match of the Championship bracket, Devine faced off with Bandera and it was another great win for the Arabians. Bandera fell 19-25 and 22-25.
Gonzales 6 kills. Cruz 3 digs. Esquibel 6 kills, 1 ace, 10 digs. Moralez 4 digs. Oropeza 1 dig. Alvarez 3 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig. Miller 1 kill. Hein 2 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs. 16 assists. Martinez 1 ace, 5 digs.
“Really limited our errors in those games and forced the other teams to make errors. talked more on defense and were way more aggressive on offense,” said Coach McIver about the Saturday games.
Senior Macey Hein was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Feast’s Lauren Crismore, Addie Force, and Bekah Wilks who was also MVP. Also named to the team were Pleasanton’s Sadie McAda and Tess Underbrink, Anderson Shiro’s Haley Mason, Ingram’s Rylan Wilt, and Natalia’s Kylee Spangler.
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer