After battling Class 1A’s top-ranked Blum, the playoff-bound Meridian Lady Jackets face postseason seeding showdown with Covington in District 18-1A battle Friday
With two matches remaining in the 2023 Texas high school volleyball regular season, the Meridian Lady Jackets have already clinched their fourth straight trip to the Class 1A postseason. But one regular season goal remains within in their grasp in District 18-1A this week, and the Lady Jackets control their own destiny.
But to have a shot enter the playoffs as the district’s second seed, the Lady Jackets (3-3 in district, 9-16 overall) will need to do something they were not able to accomplish in the first round of district play – knock off the second place Covington Owls.
After suffering a straight set loss on the road to the Class 1A’s top-ranked Blum Lady Bobcats (6-1, 32-6) Tuesday, the Lady Jackets will visit Covington (5-1, 12-14-1) at 4:30 p.m. Friday in what could prove to be a do-or-die showdown for second place in district. The Lady Owls will wrap up the regular season by hosting Blum next Tuesday, while the Lady Jackets will host the Morgan Lady Eagles (0-6, 0-15) at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Yellowjacket Gymnasium.
In the second round rematch against Blum Tuesday night, the Lady Bobcats swept past Meridian, 25-6, 25-5, 25-7, with relative ease, looking like the team many pick as the favorite to win the state championship.
“As always, Blum is a very tough opponent,” Schur said. “We really struggled passing out of serve-receive tonight because they are just such great servers. When you struggle out of serve-receive, it’s very hard to get any type of rhythm going. Although we didn’t pass well out of serve-receive, the girls still fought hard the entire match.”
Against Blum , senior Canyon Stauffer led the Lady Jackets with two kills and two set assists, junior Mariana Paniagua delivered two service aces and two set assists, while junior Journey Stauffer came up with three digs.
Despite the outcome with Blum, the Lady Jackets will still have a shot at claiming of share of second place by defeating Covington. In the first round of district, the Lady Owls swept past Meridian, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21, in a hard-fought, three-set decision.
“Friday’s game is even bigger than the first time we played Covington,” Schur said. “The girls know that in order to accomplish our goal of second place, we will need to take care of business on Friday. We will need to ensure that we take care of business on our side of the net for that to happen. I expect the match on Friday to be a back-and-forth battle for sure.”
Before getting an open date in the schedule last Friday, the Lady Jackets opened the second round of district by dismantling the Kopperl Lady Eagles in straight sets, 25-23, 25-17, 25-23¸ last Tuesday to set up the crucial stretch run. Senior Eve Dirkse, Journey Stauffer and sophomore Jasmin Brown led Meridian with three kills apiece, while Paniagua delivered five service aces and seven set assists in the win.
“We played very well as team tonight,” Schur said after the match. “Kopperl is a very scrappy team and kept us on our toes all night. Because of that, we were out of position at times, and the girls really had to rely on their teammates to get the job done. I’m proud of them for digging deep and finishing the job in three sets.
Also contributing against Kopperl, Canyon Stauffer and Journey Stauffer led Meridian with four digs each, while Canyon Stauffer came up with four set assists and Journey Stauffer smashed five service aces.
Bouncing back from a disappointing first round loss to Covington, the Lady Jackets closed out the first round of District 18-1A competition with a hard-fought, five-set victory on the road against the upstart Morgan Lady Eagles, 25-21,24-26,22-25,25-23, 15-11.
The Lady Jackets knew going into the match that they needed a victory to keep their postseason hopes realistically alive. And without a doubt, it did not come easy.
“We started strong in the beginning of the first set, then really seemed to get out of rhythm,” Schur said. “We played hard all night, we just didn’t make the best decisions at times. All of that to say, the girls dug deep and found a way to get the win.”
Journey Stauffer led the Lady Jackets with 15 kills and six service aces while Canyon Stauffer provided a team-high 20 set assists along with nine kills, five service aces and seven digs.
Senior Hope Cabrera delivered six service aces, Dirkse contributed four blocks, Paniagua provided seven set assists and junior Mackenzie Borhofen came up with seven digs.
“It wasn’t pretty by any means,” Schur said. “But just as I’ve told the girls since I’ve been here, if we keep doing the little things right, the wins will start showing up on the scoreboard. With this win, we have doubled our wins from last year. And that wouldn’t be possible without the buy in from each girl in the program.”
But in the showdown to take sole possession of second place behind Blum, Meridian suffered a three-set sweep against Covington, 25-15, 25-13, 25-19, in the first round of district. In the losing effort against the Lady Owls, Dirkse and Journey Stauffer led Meridian with four kills each, Cabrera delivered five service aces, Paniagua provided eight set assists and sophomore Jasmin Brown came up with eight digs.
“Obviously, the outcome of the game wasn’t what we wanted at all,” Schur said. “We played hard. But unfortunately, we fell apart in key moments in the game. This definitely makes the second round of district extremely important.
“As long as we execute on our side of the net, it will be a completely different game. We just have to worry about playing Lady Jacket volleyball. I would like to thank the fans for giving us a very large and loud crowd.”
Despite riding a three-match winning streak, the Lady Jackets found out the hard way what it will take to challenge for the Class 1A volleyball state championship. Coming off a convincing straight set victory in their District 18-1A opener, the Lady Jackets could not find an answer for top-ranked and defending district champion Blum. Unable to answer the Lady Bobcats’ attacking onslaught, Meridian fell in straight sets, 25-6, 25-4, 25-5.
“Even though the score does not indicate it, we played very well tonight,” Meridian volleyball head coach Lyndsie Schur said. “We knew Blum is a heck of a team going into this game. But to be able to go back and forth with them is a testament to the fight and determination that our kids have to be great. I’m very proud of our girls tonight.”
Against Blum, Mackenzie Borhofen led the Lady Jackets with six digs, followed by junior Journey Stauffer with four, while seniors Canyon Stauffer and Eve Dirkse provided one kill apiece.
After seeing their District 18-1A opener postponed in Kopperl due to no officials, the Lady Jackets reset to shoot down the Lady Eagles in straight sets, 25-23, 25-14, 25-17, as Paniagua led Meridian with five kills, five service aces and six set assists.
“We started out slow, but got the job done,” Schur said. “It always feels great to win. But that first district win is always that much sweeter.”
Cabrera smashed four kills and five service aces, while Canyon Stauffer, Dirkse, Journey Stauffer and Brown contributed three kills apiece. Canyon Stauffer also led Meridian with eight set assists while nailing five service aces.
“I’m very proud of the team effort that was shown tonight,” Schur said. “Coach Trantham did a good job of getting them prepared for us. The first set was a little sloppy, but we really honed in on what we’ve been focusing on and ultimately got the job done.”
After struggling to win matches during its non-district and tournament schedule, Meridian built momentum going into district play with its second straight win, sweeping past the Three Way Lady Braves, 25-13, 25-14, 25-13, at home.
Journey Stauffer led the Lady Jackets with four kills along with six service aces, while Paniagua delivered a team-high nine service aces and provided seven set assists. Canyon Stauffer and Dirkse also contributed three kills each.
“I am very proud of the girls tonight,” said Schur following Meridian’s final non-district match. “We did a much better job of controlling the speed of the game and really worked as a team tonight. I feel very confident to be going into district.”
Photos by WENDY OROZCO
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