ROUND ROCK — A magical run for the Patriots’ middle school A Team ended in heartbreak when the Patriots lost the TAIAO state title match by a mere two points to Brazos Valley at the Round Rock Sports Center on Saturday.
The Patriots (22-8-1) had one serve for match point, but ultimately surrendered the final three points to the Lady Mustangs to fall 23-25, 25-21, 14-16.
“You hate to leave a tournament on a loss, but what the kids did was pretty fabulous,” said head coach Laura Force. “We went to the state championship and brought our top level of volleyball. I think that match could have gone either way.”
Proving her point, the two sides both scored 62 points in the match.
The championship game was the only time in the two-day tourney that the Patriots dropped even a set. They cruised through pool play on Friday and held their quarterfinal opponent, KOR, to just 18 points total in a two-set win before squaring off with Gloria Deo in the semifinal. FEAST avenged a loss to the Lions earlier in the year with a 25-22, 25-20 win to reach the final.
In the final, the Patriots jumped out to an early lead behind strong serving runs from Gabi Enriquez and Ruthie Thompson. The Mustangs hung around and kept chipping away before getting close enough to make a lethal strike in the homestretch. Brazos Valley overcame a 23-22 deficit to win the first set.
FEAST rallied strongly in the second set and maintained a tight lead throughout to force the decisive stanza.
The third set was the equivalent of a heavyweight prize fight as the two teams just traded punches to the finish. Neither side led by more than three in the set, and the Mustangs rallied from three down to capture the crown.
Chloe Hawkins was the Patriots’ offensive engine, racking up 12 kills. Enriquez and Ellarie Ellebracht each had five kills and a pair of aces.
It is believed that this marks the Patriots’ first-ever appearance in a state championship tournament by a middle school team, save that the B Team also played in the event.
The B-Team Patriots, without a single 8th-grader on the roster, had a tough draw on Friday. Placed in a pool with both Brazos Valley and Gloria Deo, they dropped both matches despite hanging 20 points on the Lions in the nightcap.
Silver bracket play was a bit kinder to the FEAST squad. The Patriots lost in straight sets to the BACH Red Hawks, but rebounded for a victory over Stephenville to claim third place in Silver.
FEAST also sent a pair of high school teams to compete in the TAIAO State Championship. The Blue Team made the Division 1 Gold Bracket after a straight-set win over the Winston School of San Antonio on Friday. They continued the run with a strong showing against JCSA on Saturday morning, but dropped both sets 25-23 and fell out of the title run. FEAST dealt a 25-17, 25-20 loss to Kings Academy in its finale to finish ninth overall.
The Red Team played in the Silver Bracket on Saturday and dropped its opening match in a three-set get-wrencher to BACH. However, it, too, tasted victory in its final outing, knocking off the Victoria Cobras varsity team, 25-, 25-, to finish third in Silver.
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