Over the weekend, the Varsity Arabians competed in the Columbus Tournament and came home with a 1-5 record. Over the three day tournament, the Arabians faced six tough teams, including two teams who made it deep into the playoffs last season.
“We did some really good things on offense and really stepped up our blocking game,” Coach Leigh Anne McIver said. “The consistency of our passes and serves have to get better for us to be successful this season. But that is what these tournaments are for, to see what we have to work on and do a better job on.”
The Arabians faced La Grange in the opening match on Thursday and fell 25-12 and 25-13.
“This was our first game in pool play,” Coach McIver said. “We did not serve receive or dig the ball very well in either set so we were not able to get in to a groove on offense.”
Stats: Megan Runyan 4 kills, 1 block, 7 digs. Myla Miles 4 digs. Bailey Oropeza 1 kill, 1 dig. Gabby Rodriguez 1 ace, 11 digs. Macey Hein 8 assists, 4 digs. Aleyna Gerlach1 kill, 3 digs. Madison Pike 2 kills, 2 digs. Jasmine Pompa 1 kill, 1 dig.
In their second match against State finalist Industrial, the Arabians played much more cohesively and won the first set 26-24. They were able to keep pace with the Cobras only losing the second set by 3 at 22-25. The final set was a tough defeat at 9-15.
“We played much better in this game but we got stuck in a rotation and just could not get out of it,” Coach McIver said.
Stats: Runyan 13 kills, 28 digs. Miles 6 digs. Oropeza 5 digs. Rodriguez 26 digs. Hein 28 assists, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 26 digs. Gerlach 4 kills, 4 digs. Pike 2 kills. Pompa 1 kill, 1 block, 5 digs.
The third game of pool play was a big win against Tidehaven at 25-17 and 25-11 on Friday.
“It took us a little bit to wake up for this game, but once we started being aggressive, our pace and level of play increased,” Coach McIver said. “We were then able to cruise along to our first win of the season.”
Stats: Runyan 6 kills, 6 digs. Miles 1 ace, 4 digs. Oropeza 2 digs. Rodriguez 2 aces, 3 digs. Hein 7 assists, 1 ace, 1 dig. Pike 1 kill, 1 block, 3 digs. Pompa 1 kill, 2 aces, 1 block 3 digs. Sydnie Harrell 1 kill. Janee Wofford 1 ace, I dig.
In their last pool play game against Fulshear, the Arabians lost 12-25 and 11-25.
“Fulshear is probably the team to beat in our region this year,” Coach McIver said. “I thought we could of played with them better then what we did. We weren’t playing as aggressive as we did in the first game of the morning and weren’t playing to win the point.”
Stats: Runyan 4 kills, 1 block, 1 dig. Miles 1 ace, 6 digs. Rodriguez 3 digs. Hein 4 assists, 7 digs. Pike 2 digs. Pompa 1 block, 2 digs. Wofford 1 dig.
The Arabians earned fourth place in their pool and a spot in the Bronze Bracket on Saturday. Their first game was against Lexington, to whom they lost 19-25 and 14-25.
“We had some great plays but then we would have trouble winning the point and be stuck in the same rotation for too long,” Coach McIver said.
Stats: Allison Stevens 8 digs. Runyan 7 kills, 1 block, 10 digs. Miles 2 digs. Oropeza 3 digs. Rodriguez 10 digs. Hein 10 assists, 1 kill, 8 digs. Gerlach 1 dig. Pike 1 kill, 1 block. Pompa 1 kill, 1 block, 4 digs. Wofford 2 aces, 5 digs.
In the last match against Sealy, the Arabians fought hard to stay in the tournament, beating them in the second set to force a third set. The Tigers were able to win the third set but Devine made them work hard for every point. Sealy won 25-22, 18-25, 15-5 ending Devine’s tournament appearance.
“We missed way too many serves in the first set to win, but the girls responded in the second set and played the best they had all tournament,” Coach McIver said. “I think we got too tense in the third set and that really effected out passes so we weren’t able to run an efficient offense.”
Stats: Stevens 11 digs. Runyan 7 kills, 4 digs. Miles 3 aces, 5 digs. Oropeza 3 kills. Rodriguez 1 dig. Hein 13 assists, 2 kills, 1 block. 5 digs. Gerlach 1 dig. Pie 2 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig. Pompa 1 kill, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 1 dig. Wofford 1 kill, 1 ace, 10 digs.
The Arabians will host their 17th Annual Arabian Round Up this weekend and will play at 10:00 am against Llano, 12:00 pm against Highlands, and at 2:00 pm against D’Hanis. Devine will play in the DSAC in Pool B. Pool A will play in the High School gym, and Pools C and D will play on Friday.
Bracket play on Saturday will begin at 9:00 am with the Championship brackets in the DSAC and High School gyms, while the Consolation bracket will be played in the Middle School and Intermediate gyms.
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer
Devine looks to bounce back in Arabian Round-Up this weekend after tough Columbus Tournament
