Summer league volleyball underway for Gonzales, St. Paul and Shiner teams

HALLETTSVILLE – In less than a month, high school volleyball practice will begin statewide.

In an effort to prepare for the upcoming season, a trio of area volleyball teams – Gonzales, St. Paul and Shiner – are getting a head start on the competition. The three teams are competing in a seven-team summer league each Tuesday this month, and all three participating area teams were in action July 3 in Hallettsville.

Each team plays a trio of 17-minute matches, which is usually the equivalent of a game and a half. Normal volleyball game rules apply where the first team to reach 25 or lead by two points after the 25th point wins the game, and teams switch ends of the court when a game is complete within the timeframe.

Most matches finished the first game of the match and time ran out during the second game. In that scenario, the match winner is the team who won the first game.

Gonzales won all three matches as the Lady Apaches beat Hallettsville (25-8), St. Paul (25-22) and Shiner (25-21). St. Paul and Shiner both went 2-1 on the night as the Lady Cardinals beat Yoakum (25-23) and Cuero (25-19), and the Lady Comanches picked up lopsided wins over Hallettsville (25-9) and Cuero (25-15).

In the Gonzales-St. Paul match, the Lady Cardinals soared to a 10-6 lead behind aces from Abby Hull and Kymberlie Malatek and a pair of kills from Jacy Pawelek combined with several Lady Apache hitting errors. But Gonzales rediscovered the same groove it had in its win over Hallettsville and went on a 10-3 spurt to regain the lead, 16-13, behind a trio of kills from Allison Raley, an ace and a kill from Morgan Simper and a pair of kills from Danyelle Glass.

St. Paul used an 8-5 run to tie the game at 21 behind kills from Pawelek and Alexa Schaefer. But Gonzales closed out the game on a 4-1 run behind kills from Raley, Glass, Shayla Simper and Lindsey Akers, and match time expired in the second game with the score tied at 3.

The Gonzales-Shiner match was a battle of the undefeated as both teams won their first two matches of the evening. In the opening segment of the match it was the Lady Comanches who rode the wave of momentum to a 6-4 lead thanks to kills from LaNeshia Hunt and Julianna Rankin, and a block from Jennifer Hartl.

But the Lady Apaches stole the momentum as they used a 20-11 run to seize a 24-17 lead. During Gonzales’ run, Akers had a trio of kills and an ace, Raley recorded four kills and a block, Shayla Simper had a block and an ace, and Kendal Fougeret recorded two kills.

Shiner stayed in the match thanks to aces from Kristin Schacherl, three kills from Rankin, a pair of kills from Hunt, and a block and two kills from Shamyra Coleman. The Lady Comanches scored four straight points to pull within three, 24-21, before Shayla Simper ended the first game with a kill.

Time ran out during the second game as Gonzales and Shiner were tied at 4. Carly Bozka of Gonzales and Hannah Koenning were defensive standouts for their respective teams.

Gonzales, St. Paul and Shiner resume summer league play at 7 p.m. today at Cuero.