High School Volleyball
Texas power programs do battle in state semis
Matt Malatesta
Nov 16, 2017, 3:42 pm
Originally appeared on Vype.com.
So, can the Hebron Hawks be knocked off their perch a top Class 6A volleyball?
The Hawks have won back-to-back state titles. The last team to do that was… The Woodlands. The Woodlands and Hebron do battle Friday night in the UIL State Semis in Garland, Texas, and one of these power programs will be the odd-on favorites to win the Class 6A title.
The Highlanders and Hawks faced off in the John Turner Classic earlier this season and battle it out in a best of three sets, where the Hawks won.
“It was a crazy competitive match,” The Woodlands Terri Wade said. “When we watch the film over, it was a battle of great players. This is going to be about who is going to make the least amount of errors.”
The Woodlands is led by setter Sophie Walls (Miami-signee) and hitters Courtney Heiser (Texas State), Dylan Maberry (LSU) and AJ Koele (Mississippi State). The defensive star is Georgia Murphy (Oregon) along with Skylar Scott.
“We have three hitters with over 400 kills a piece,” she said. “We run a fast offense and Sophie never comes off the floor. She runs the offense and is aggressive. No one compete like her. She’s a vocal leader and has improved so much over the past three years.”
This is Wade’s first state final appearance at The Woodlands and is trying to quell her excitement.
“Just the anxiety of being competitive is what fuels me,” she said. “We aren’t going to talk about what Hebron does. We just worry about what we can control. We have faced some great teams this season, so we are ready.”
Hebron counters with Minnesota-commit Adanna Rollins (469 kills) and Emma Clothier (351 kills) up front and San Diego-signee Annie Benbow on defense. The Hawks have a lofty No. 2 ranking in the state of Texas and have won four title over the past 12 years.
Amen Thompson had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his fourth career triple-double and the Houston Rockets used a big run late to get a 119-111 win over the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night.
It was the second triple-double this month after the second-year player also had one on Feb. 3.
The game was tied after a 3-pointer by Bol Bol before the Rockets used an 11-2 run to take a 115-106 lead with just more than a minute to go.
Jalen Green scored the first five points in that stretch before Dillon Brooks made consecutive 3-pointers to allow Houston to pull away.
Kevin Durant had 37 points for the short-handed Suns, who were missing Devin Booker, who sat out with a bruised lower back. The Suns lost their third in a row and for the sixth time in seven games.
They led by 8 entering the fourth quarter before Houston rallied for the victory.
Alperen Sengun had 17 points and 13 rebounds after sitting out most of Sunday’s game dealing with back spasms to help the Rockets win a second straight. Tari Eason added 25 points for Houston and Green had 22.
Suns: Durant continues to play at a high level, but the Suns need to get their other stars healthy to take some pressure off the 36-year-old.
Rockets: The Rockets used a balanced scoring attack to get the win with all five starters finishing with at least 17 points.
A dunk by Durant got the Suns within 3 late before the two 3-pointers by Brooks put the game away.
The Rockets scored 25 points off 17 Phoenix turnovers.
The Rockets host the Warriors and the Suns visit the Spurs on Thursday night.