Houston High School’s volleyball team closed out the regular season schedule in style Tuesday night, winning in straight sets in a South Central Association conference match at Willow Springs, 25-18, 25-17, 25-14.
Senior middle hitter Olivia Crites had a game-high 13 kills in the game for Houston, while also scoring on 2 blocks.
Lady Tigers junior outside hitter Angie Smith smashed 11 kills and had 3 blocks and 12 digs, while senior Makenzi Arthur had 15 assists and 4 aces, senior Madi Reed had 11 digs, junior Kelsey Pritchett had 2 blocks and freshman Kayla Wagner served 2 aces.
Next up for the Lady Tigers (21-9-1, 4-3 SCA) is the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 District 9 tournament at Cabool.
Houston is seeded second in the event and has a bye in the first round. The Lady Tigers will play Saturday evening against the winner of a first round game on Thursday between No. 3 Thayer and No. 6 Gainesville.
“It was nice to get a win on our last regular season game to propel us into districts,” said HHS head coach Loran Richardson. “The girls played pretty consistently and we have to take that into our game on Saturday.”
Top-seeded Liberty (25-4-3, 6-1 SCA) also has a first round bye and will go Saturday at 4 p.m. against the winner of a contest between No. 4 Cabool and No. 5 Mansfield.
The district championship game is set for 6 p.m. Monday (Oct. 24).
JV LADY TIGERS FALL IN SEASON FINALE
Houston’s junior varsity squad lost in its final game of the season Tuesday at Willow Springs, 10-25, 20-25.
Wagner, Kynlee Weaver and Maddie Holder had 2 kills apiece for the Lady Tigers, while Wagner, Lilly Kincaid and Annabelle Westbrook each had 2 assists. Cadence Wade had 6 digs for Houston and Nola Smith had 5, while Weaver, Izzy Pena, and McKenzi Postlewait each scored on a block and Postlewait served a pair of aces.
The Junior Lady Tigers finished the season at 15-3-1 in a season that included a victory at the Licking JV Tournament.
“They had a great season,” Richardson said.
Houston’s C team won at Willow, 25-21.
The Freshman Lady Tigers recorded 9 kills, 8 assists, 11 digs and 4 aces in the win, and finished 7-4-3 for the year.
“They showed a lot of improvement and hustle over the season,” Richardson said.