Marble Falls volleyball welcomes Burnet in district opener
CAPTION: The Marble Falls volleyball players congratulate freshman Brighton Bernard (13) for recording a kill. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
District 24-4A volleyball play begins Friday, Sept. 13 with Burnet visiting Marble Falls in Max Copeland Gym.
Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Burnet, which finished as the district runner-up a year ago, has the more established program under the direction of head coach Crystal Shipley. The Lady Dawgs (12-12) captured district titles in 2021 and 2022 and finished third in 2020. They reached the regional tournament in 2021.
Burnet isn’t the only proven program in the district. Thanks to realignment, it features three district champions from last year — Georgetown Gateway, Salado and Taylor — and adding in the Lady Dawgs and Jarrell, all five won 20 matches a year ago.
“It’s gonna be tough,” Marble Falls head coach Christopher Pace said. “I believe we have one of the toughest districts in (Class) 4A. We have seven teams fighting for four (playoff) spots. Lampasas and Marble Falls are both better than we’ve been.”
Marble Falls enters district play on the heels of losing to Fredericksburg 18-25, 20-25, 20-25.
Pace noted a couple of different bounces of the ball in a play or two, and he believes his squad would have made it very interesting.
“We played well,” he said. “We still have a few things to work out. That’s a really good team and that’s a really good program. It’s been consistent for awhile. They’re always good.”
Pace said he reached out to Fredericksburg wanting to schedule “another tough team before district to see our holes to see what we need to fix. I thought this was an opportunity against a really good Fredericksburg team.”
Fredericksburg has a middle blocker and an outside hitter that paced the Lady Billies. Every time they needed a point, that’s who got the ball.
“Their middle hit some some shots to the corner,” the coach said. “It gave them a big momentum shift.”
At one time Marble Falls trailed 16-23 and began closing the gap during the match.
“We found a way to string together a few and put ourselves in a position that with one or two good plays, momentum shifts,” the coach said. “They’re really good. They’re always really good.”
He commended senior Mia Trejo and junior libero Kate McCary.
“Mia was phenomenal the first two sets. In the third set, we weren’t in a position to get her the ball,” Pace said. “They don’t get on the other girls. They encourage, they talk to them appropriately. Kate is very vocal with the back row; Mia is vocal about wanting the ball. Mia wants to be the finisher in the rally when she can.”
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