Boerne Champion volleyball pushes past Jay for sweep to begin 26-5A play
BOERNE – Floundering away hard-earned momentum, the Boerne Champion Chargers needed a reset after falling behind early against Jay in the second set of their District 26-5A opener on Tuesday.
The Chargers had already secured the first set when they trailed 6-2 in the second with five of Jay’s points coming via Champion errors.
Then, senior libero Brielle Boothe delivered three straight aces to even it at 6. That gave the Chargers enough push to send them on their way to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-8 home victory.
“Getting those three aces brought our energy up a lot,” said Boothe, who is committed to Texas State. “Our team really relies on our energy on the court and even on the bench. And when we’re down, we’re down. So, that energy just brought it up.”
Until Boothe delivered those aces, it was a bit of a slog. The Chargers and Mustangs traded the lead twice and were tied five times until Champion created separation with a 4-0 run to go ahead 10-6 in the first set.
“That was definitely helpful for us because you could see that we were clearly down,” junior setter Brady Cooksey said. “Everyone was hitting out. Everyone was hitting into the net. Everyone was getting blocked. So, when you get those points back and (Boothe) goes on a run like that, that really brings the energy back. That was a mental reset, and we just pushed from that.”
The Chargers had a tough time maneuvering past Jay’s 6-foot-2 junior middle blocker, Ta’Naiya Watson, who had three blocks and altered several more shots.
In the second set, Watson put the Mustangs (7-15) ahead 4-0 with a block. She gave the Mustangs a 7-6 lead with another block. But, the Chargers wrested control shortly after that, thanks largely to a strong service sequence by senior defensive specialist Aleah Ramirez, who had two aces as part of a 10-0 run that put them ahead, 2-0, in sets.
“That just shows that we can start in that level of a hole, and this team has enough energy and enough fight to be able to come back, especially Brielle with those serves,” junior outside hitter Abby Marizcurrena said. “Just a lot of energy coming up. It’s always the energy, and she’s a good leader of energy, too.”
Champion opened the third with a big service game by junior Hannah Perez, who had two aces as part of a 7-1 start that sent the Chargers to victory.
Boothe led the Chargers with five aces to go with nine digs. Cooksey had 20 assists. Marizcurrena had 10 kills to lead the Chargers, followed by sophomore outside hitter Finley Weikle, whose eight kills put her past 500 in her career.
Champion improved to 21-5 overall and rebounded after closing non-district with a four-set loss against (25-21, 25-22, 14-25, 25-22) Dripping Springs.
The Chargers sharpened their skills against a tough non-district slate. The Chargers are ranked No. 17 in Class 5A by Texas Volleyball Insiders, one of two area teams listed (Smithson Valley is No. 18).
That should give them the inside edge in the district race. But, Tuesday’s match served as a reminder that it won’t be easy despite the lofty accolades.
“This definitely lets us know that we can’t take anything for granted,” Cooksey said. “We can’t expect (our opponents) to make mistakes. We have to still play our game and work hard to win and play like we know how to play because we had a very strong preseason.”
The district features McCollum, a reigning district champion, and resurgent squads in Boerne and Alamo Heights, who are far outpacing their rough seasons from a year ago.
“I think it was a good warm-up,” Marizcurrena said. “I think, generally speaking, that wasn’t our level of play. But, we’re learning and as you saw throughout the rest of the game, we learned how to pick it up and pick up our own energy and the play that comes with it. We’re just getting ready for the rest of the season because, obviously, we have a pretty good district.”
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This article originally published at Boerne Champion volleyball pushes past Jay for sweep to begin 26-5A play.
