Defense helps Burnet top Giddings, stay alive in volleyball playoffs – Austin American-Statesman
PFLUGERVILLE — Burnet is off to the regional final for the first time in a decade, and it can thank its defense for making it there.
The Bulldogs pulled up attacks all night long and controlled the net for most of the match as they topped Giddings 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 in a Class 4A Region III quarterfinal Tuesday at Weiss High School.
“At the beginning of the year, we worried about hurting each other’s feelings on whose ball it was, but we had to forget about feelings and just worry about getting the ball up — and we did that tonight, and that was a big key,” Burnet coach Crystal Shipley said. “Giddings has the best defense we’ve seen all season. They’re scrappy like we are and get after it, but we just had to be better.”
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Not a program with a particularly deep volleyball history — its bi-district win a year ago marked its first postseason victory since 2011 — Burnet scheduled a tough nondistrict schedule with a lot of Class 5A and even some Class 6A schools in preparation for the postseason.
It was a slate the seniors said they wanted — and it seemed to pay off. The Bulldogs only dropped one match on the way to a district title, swept their bi-district and area-round matches and were mostly error-free in all the critical moments against Giddings.
When senior middle blocker Caty Crow’s ace ended the match, the Burnet bench and large support section of more than 300 people went wild.
“There’s a lot of emotion after a performance like that,” Shipley said. “We’ve been to a regional tournament only once that I know of — so this group has just battled adversity and it’s been incredible.”
It was a complete team effort from the Bulldogs. Setter Rylee Hernandez (29 assists, 11 digs) and libero Kayla Gillaspie (27 digs) were great on the back row along with defensive specialists Addie Hernandez (11 digs) and Molly McPherson (10 digs), while the blocking of Crow and sophomores MaeSyn Gay and Zaria Solis seemed to throw off the Giddings hitters.
“Our defense was amazing tonight,” Rylee Hernandez said. “We work hard in practice on defense all the time and push ourselves and I think that shows in our play.”
Added Crow: “We got a lot of touches at the net and were covering really well. To be a part of a playoff run like this as a senior is great.”
Offensively, Gay fired 13 kills, Crow knocked down 10 shots and McKenzie Davis finished with nine kills as Rylee Hernandez spread the ball around to seven different players.
The Bulldogs (24-18) came out ready to play and dominated Game 1, gradually building their lead into double digits before closing it out.
Giddings (29-17) answered in Game 2, using a 5-0 run to break open a 13-13 tie as Ryan Melcher served an ace and ripped a kill, while Faith Zoch and Sierra Beasley also knocked down shots.
Neither team led by more than four in a back-and-forth Game 3, with the Bulldogs going on a 6-2 run to finish out the game as Gay blasted two kills.
Burnet led 7-1 to start Game 4 then withstood a furious rally as the Buffaloes got back to within 14-13 and 20-19. But like in Game 3, Burnet was clutch when it needed to be and finished off the match on a 5-1 run with Sydne Massoletti and Rylee Hernandez recording kills prior to Crow’s ace.
“Our senior setter (Rylee Hernandez) — I just trust her,” Shipley said of the Bulldogs ability to win points when they needed them. “I kind of let her quarterback the offense.”
Burnet will play Bellville in the regional semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at Bryan High School.
While a deep playoff run is something relatively new to the Bulldogs, it could be the start of a new trend. A large part of the playing rotation is made up of underclassmen that will be back next year, but the focus for now is staying in the moment, playing for the seniors and continuing to perform well on defense.
“This is pretty special and it just makes you feel really good to know that all the hard work you’ve put in has paid off,” Gillaspie said. “We were hustling everywhere tonight.”