The Wimberley Texans volleyball team are in the heart of tournament season as they travel to Glen Rose to participate in the Glen Rose Tournament.
But before making the long trip, the Texans first traveled to Johnson City to battle the Eagles.
After splitting the first two sets with Wimberley winning the first set at 25-23 and Johnson City winning the second set at 25-21, the Texans rallied to win the third and fourth set 25-14, 25-17 to win the series over the Eagles.
Leading the team in kills was Laney Hennessee with 15 while Carson Peoples led the team in aces with six.
Holding the net down for the Texans was Mariah McCoy with three blocks while Rheagen Masur held the back row with 19 digs.
Jesse Weeks rounded off the stat by leading the team in assists with 25.
For the Glen Rose Tournament, the Texans were placed in Pool H with Bridgeport, Clifton, Denton and Eastern Hills.
Wimberley made short work of pool play by winning all four games and dropping just one set to Denton.
For Head Volleyball Coach Stephenie Barthels, it was an exciting time for the Texans as not only did they play really good volleyball but also everyone was able to see the floor and get in on the action.
“Friday was an exciting day because we won our pool,” Barthels said. “We went 4-0 and played really well. We beat a big and strong Denton team, which was really fun. They had a strong outside (hitter) who was hitting really well defensively. Rheagen Masur did a great job in the back row for us. We started really strong, and Jesse Weeks did a great job and Maddie Harris played really well that day. We moved the ball around really well and our freshman Mariah McCoy did a great job as well as Kinslee Brown… Everybody got to see the floor and get some minutes in there.”
Playing the next day on Saturday, the Texans squared off the Blum Bobcats.
Despite the Texans winning the first set at 25-19, the Bobcats stormed back to win the second and third set at 25-23, 25-18.
Hennessee led the team in kills with 18 while sharing the lead with Weeks in Aces with two apiece.
Masur led the team in digs with 21 while Weeks led in assists with 20.
Wimberley bounced back from the loss to sweep the Millsaps Bulldogs winning 2-0 (25-13, 25-16).
Hennessee and Emily Thames led the team in kills with five each while Mariah McCoy and Hennessee held down the net with two blocks each.
Wimberley rounded out the tournament playing Springtown and Lorena after their win over Millsap resulted in the Texans playing three straight games back to back to back.
Though the Texans lost their final two games, Coach Barthels saw some improvements from the first week to the second week.
“I’ve seen when we are talking on the court and coming together on timeouts, the lightbulb starts clicking,” Barthels said. “When you are sitting down with them in the moment, making sure they see certain things, and making adjustments. Afterwards when you are sitting down with them, you are making sure they are listening to our play calling… We are getting better passes from the middle of the net and we are making really good passes.”
Wimberley will be home Tuesday night against Blanco in the official home opener for the Texans before traveling to Kerrville to participate in the Kerrville Tournament, which is the last of the tournament season. “It’s going to be great, and I’m excited,” Barthels said. “I’m glad it’s on a Tuesday and not a Friday, so we can have fans in the stands and not worry about competing with football. The girls love playing at home in front of the fans. It’s always a fun time and usually we have a great crowd because the community loves the volleyball program so hopefully we can pack the stands and give them what they pay for.”
