By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
St. Joseph Academy got to play at home during Saturday’s opening round of the TAPPS volleyball playoffs.
That was the good news.
The not-so-good news was Fort Bend Christian Academy, SJA’s opponent that traveled approximately seven hours to Brownsville from the Houston area, won the bi-district match 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 25-15 to advance to the next round of the TAPPS playoffs.
SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said her team that finished third in its TAPPS district did not play up to its potential against the Lady Eagles, who are the fourth-place team from the TAPPS district in the Houston area.
“ I think we could have beaten them, I honestly do,” Olguin-Trevino said. “I think we stopped playing the way we know how to play. When you’re not playing defense the way you can and you make so many errors, you can’t win.”
Saturday marked the Lady Bloodhounds’ second straight year to advance to the postseason in TAPPS. The volleyball program at SJA just completed its third varsity season.
“ I believe three calls (against us) in the third set changed the momentum of the match,” the SJA coach said. “Unfortunately, it affected us. We’re not a ‘veteran-veteran’ team, but we’re also not a ‘new-new’ team.
“ You see here and there those little moments (that show our experience and that we know how to play well),” Olguin-Trevino added. “That’s what hurt (was knowing we could have played better. (Still,) it’s hard to win against a team that didn’t make a whole lot of errors. They did in the first game, but then they warmed up (and played consistently). They did their job, we didn’t.”
The Lady Bloodhounds ended the season with an 18-11 record.
Fort Bend improved to 14-19 and next will play Frassati Catholic, the No. 1 team from the Houston TAPPS district, probably Tuesday, Fort Bend coach Penny Wasem said.
“ I’m so proud of these girls,” Wasem said. “We’re a young team that lost several starters during the first few weeks of the season, which forced us to bring up some players from the junior varsity. We told ourselves we would stay the course as we go, and we’ve gained steam (throughout the season). That was the plan from the start.
“ We’ve followed our plan (to get where we are now),” Wasem added. “These girls have such a heart for God, and that’s where we give all the credit, for sure.”
The Lady Eagles boasted some tall players who could hit with power. They included Bailey Hanner, Brooke Byers and Caitlyn Harraman, all underclassmen.
The SJA hitting attack was led by senior Ally Stachowiak and sophomore Mildred Verlage.
During the opening set, SJA at one point led by seven points, 19-12, before Fort Bend rallied and went ahead for good 21-20 on a hit by the Lady Bloodhounds that went out. SJA pulled to within one point, 23-22, on a block by the Lady Eagles that carried out.
But from there, a kill and a tip by Fort Bend gave the visitors two points and a 25-22 victory in the first set.
The Lady Bloodhounds broke away from a tie at 18 during the second game. SJA then went ahead for good 19-18 on a kill by Stachowiak. The Lady Bloodhounds soon took the second set 25-19 on another kill by Stachowiak.
The Lady Bloodhounds just couldn’t stay close to the Lady Eagles during the third and fourth games and lost them 25-16 and 25-15, respectively.