Boerne Champion played one of its best matches of the year Tuesday night at Charger Gym and defeated visiting Boerne High in three sets.
Champion swept the Lady Greyhounds, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22, and closed in on this year’s District 26-5A title. With the win, the Chargers (30-7) moved into first place at 10-1 in district, while Boerne (28-6) had dropped two straight and is 9-2 and Alamo Heights (29-12) is also 9-2.
The Chargers visited Alamo Heights Friday, and a win will give them their first district title since 2019.
If the Mules beat the Chargers and Boerne wins its match with John Jay on Friday, then they will be tri-champions. All three teams would be tied at 10-2 and all three would have split their matches with the other two.
Champion coach Kelly McDaniel said if her team plays like they did Tuesday, they should be in good shape on Friday.
“We came in with a ton of confidence and we just played together. They played loose and without pressure on their shoulders,” she said. “We’re just focused on playing our best and we’re hoping for the best Friday night.”
So far this year, whenever Champion, Boerne and Alamo Heights have faced each other, the home team has won every match. The Chargers will have to break that streak on Friday if they’re going to win the title outright, and BHS coach Staci Lawrence said she understands why each team has protected its home court.
“There’s always a comfort playing at home and having that home-court advantage is definitely a factor in the district this year,” she said.
The Chargers came out strong in the first two sets and never trailed in either. The last tie in the first game came at 7-7 and then Champion went on an 8-1 run and opened a 15-8 lead.
Champion’s biggest lead in that first set came at 20-11, but the Lady Hounds went on a 5-0 spurt to make it 20-16. The Chargers responded by outscoring BHS down the stretch 5-1 to take the game.
The same thing happened in the second set after the Chargers raced out to a 20-13 advantage. Boerne answered with a 5-1 run and cut it to 21-18, but again, Champion closed it out strong and outscored BHS down the stretch 4-1 to take a 2-0 lead.
Game 3 was the most competitive and featured 15 ties or lead changes early on. The Hounds were up 7-6 in that third set to mark their first lead of the match. Boerne’s last lead came at 10-9. Champion tied it at 10-all, took an 11-10 lead and never trailed from there.
BHS kept it close and tied it at 22-22, but the Chargers tallied the last three points to end it. Champion’s last point came on the kill from Finley Weikle, who was returning from injury and made her presence felt with 12 kills.
Weikle said it was good to be back on the court.
“I felt like I came back and played with more ease and felt very comfortable out on the court,” she said. “My teammates pushed me hard and helped me get back into my rhythm.”
Brielle Boothe had a strong match for Champion and finished with 20 kills. McDaniel said it was her best match of the year.
“She had another best match in the libero position but absolutely hitting wise, it was her best match,” McDaniel said. “Abby (Marizcurrena) had a great match too.”
Marizcurrena tallied 11 kills as three Chargers finished in double-digit kills. Hannah Perez came up with 20 digs, Brady Cooksey had 40 assists and 12 digs and Shay Brothers added 11 digs. Besides her 20 kills, Boothe recorded 14 digs, 2 assists and a block.
“I had a lot of fun and was consistent,” Boothe said. “It felt good out there.”
Ava Seamans finished with nine kills for the Greyhounds, Lauren Magnus added 16 assists and 7 digs, Bella Pettet had 25 receptions and 6 digs, Kiley Coffland came up with 10 digs and Riley Caldwell had 7 digs and 2 blocks.
NOTES: Regardless of how they ended up in the district standings, Champion, Boerne and Alamo Heights, along with McCollum have clinched playoff spots. The Chargers and Mules will go to the DI or big school bracket and the Greyhounds and Cowgirls will go to the DII or small school bracket. …. The Champion volleyball program now leads their all-time series with the Greyhounds, 4-2, and the two have split the last two years.
