Devine Fillys – 8th Grade
Volleyball

Eighth grade Filly #19 Lesslie De Los Santos swings on the ball. Also pictured are #25 Tucker Traylor and #11 Kyrie DuBose.

The 8th grade Fillys Volleyball teams had a full week of playing this past week. To start the week, the teams made the long trip to Carrizo Springs to face the Wildcats.
The Gold team started the evening off in the first 8th grade game of the night. In the first set, the Fillys and the Wildcats battled back and forth. At a 3-all tie, the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-3 lead. But, when the Filly’s setter, Paige Barron, came into the game and served, the game took on an entirely new look. Paige served 18 straight serves, helping the Fillys go up on Carrizo Springs 21-9. A few minutes later, the game ended with the Fillys winning 24-11 as time expired.
In the 2nd set, the Fillys dominated. Coming off of the first set win, Jacqueline Salazar served 10 straight Filly points, putting the team up 12-4. After that, Paige Barron, once again, went on a serving streak for her team, serving 10 straight serves as well. The Fillys found themselves up 23-5. After a side out point, Kenzie Schott came in and served for the game winning point. The Fillys won the game and pushed their season record to 2-1.
The Maroon game followed the gold team’s victory. Starting out receiving in the first set, the Fillys found themselves down by 5. Slowly but surely, the Fillys started to come back against the Wildcats. After being down 8-17, the Fillys made a run, and before they knew it, the score was 23-24. With the game on the line, the Wildcats were able to side out and score the winning point. The Fillys dropped the first set 23-25.


Early in the 2nd set, the score was 10-9 in favor of Carrizo Springs. The back and forth battle continued 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16-16, and 19-19. After that, the Wildcats made it 19-22. The Fillys stood their ground, fighting for each and every ball, and each and every point. In the end though, Carrizo won the 2nd set 25-20, capturing the win.
On Saturday, the Fillys hosted their home tournament. In the first game of the morning, the Fillys took on Hondo. In the first set, the Fillys jumped out to a 8-2 lead, but the Owls came up even at 13-13. After that, Devine took the edge 20-19. Hondo then earned their way to a 21-24 lead. The Fillys did a great job holding them off, but Hondo ended up taking the first set, 21-25.  In the 2nd set, it was a point for point battle through 8-8. It was then that Hondo scored 7 straight points. After gathering themselves, Devine sat in good position at 19-21. From that point Hondo took the set 19-25.
In the second game for the Fillys, they met up with Pleasanton. Devine was up early 11-7. Just a few minutes later, Devine still led 23-22. Unfortunately, Pleasanton took the next few points in this tight battle, winning the set 25-23. The second set was almost as close with the two teams tied at 16-16 and 17-17. PLeasanton was able to hold their serve 23-19. They were then able to score two more points, winning the set 25-20 and taking the game.
In the afternoon game, the Fillys came up against the Poth Pirates. In, once again, a point for point battle, the Fillys held strong early. After leading late in the game at 21-16, the Pirates took the first set 25-16. In the second set, Poth jumped out to an early lead. The Fillys fought back and continued to battle, the team from Poth was too much for them, and they took the set 25-17, winning the game.
Even though the day was full of struggles for the Fillys, there were many bright points. They have grasped the concept of hit defense and played well against all three teams that solidly hit against them. They fought back again and again in every game. Serve receive and passing were much improved from the game just a few days earlier in the week. Hitters were getting hittable set, and were able to put many of them down. It was definitely a good showing for the Fillys, even though they did not end up victorious.