The Wimberley Texan volleyball team is off to a hot start as the team captured second place at the home Tex-Fest Volleyball Tournament this past weekend.
The team played six games over a span of two days.
“Our girls stepped up and played really well,” Barthels said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say again, we’re very youthful and don’t have a lot of experience with those girls. For many of them, this is their first time playing varsity, so a lot of them are stepping up and playing some really good volleyball for us.”
Following a 3-1 loss to the Buda Johnson Jaguars to kick off the regular season, Barthels was pleased with the team by how they bounced back from the loss.
“I’ve been really impressed this week on how this team is dealing with adversity coming off of that Buda Johnson game,” Barthels said. “A lot of them were really upset with themselves. For the majority of them not having played varsity level volleyball, that quick pace volleyball (the team) did a really good job adjusting to.”
Heading into pool play on Day 1 in the Tex Fest Tournament, the Texans rebounded by sweeping Marble Falls, Marion, and Lehman without dropping a set to improve their record to 3-1 overall and advance to the Gold Bracket.
In the first game of the Gold Bracket, the Texans found themselves against the San Antonio East Central Hornets, Despite dropping the first set at 25-19, Wimberley bounced back to win the second set at 25-16.
In the third and final set, the Texans put together a dominant performance winning the third and final set at 25-2.
Leading the Texans in kills was Laney Hennessee with eight while Kenslee Brown held down the net with three blocks. Jesse Weeks led the team in assists with 20 while Rheagan “Pebble” Masur led the team in digs with 18.
Maddy Harris, Hennessee, Weeks and Masur all tied for the lead in aces with two apiece.
Heading into the semifinals, the Texans were set to play the Hardin Hornets.
Hardin took the first set at 25-21 before Wimberley took the second set at 25-20.
In the third set, both teams battled hard and made each other work for every point before the Texans put away the Hornets for a 25-22 win.
Leading the team in kills was Hennessee again with 10 while also tying for the lead in blocks along with Emily Thames at one apiece.
Weeks led the team in assists with 22 while Masur led the team in digs with 18. Mariah McCoy led the team in aces with five.
In the championship game, Wimberley found themselves squaring off with the Peaster Greyhounds.
The Texans took the first set at 28-26 before Peaster took the second set 25-23.
In the final set to determine the Tex-Fest Championship, it was the Greyhounds who pulled away from the Texans with a 25-15 win. Leading the team in kills was Harris with seven while Hennessee led the team in blocks with four.
Hennessee also led the team in digs with 18 while Weeks again led the team in assists with 12.
Carson Peoples rounded out the stat count by leading the team in aces with two.
Wimberley is on the road this week as they travel to Johnson City Tuesday night to battle the Eagles at 7 p.m..
The Texans then go into the heart of tournament season as they will travel to Glen Rose to participate in the Glen Rose Tournament Friday and Saturday.
