UIL 6A State Championship Update
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Klein vs Seven Lakes for the State Championship. Yup…an All Houston Final. While the Dallas area has dominated the volleyball landscape for the past decade, The Houston area was ready to say do not forget about our players/teams. Both teams…
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Continue ReadingKlein vs Seven Lakes for the State Championship. Yup…an All Houston Final. While the Dallas area has dominated the volleyball landscape for the past decade, The Houston area was ready to say do not forget about our players/teams. Both teams are littered with stars. Klein came in to the championship match with an extremely impressive undefeated 26-0 overall record. They have been ranked as one of the best teams not only in the state, but the country all year long. Meanwhile Seven Lakes had a great overall season record of 24-1. Both teams have been battle tested all year long with great schedules. But there is one thing that has been a constant all year long. Seven Lakes outside hitter Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX cannot be stopped.
Klein battled hard all match long and had 6 players score multiple kills to stay alive. Ariana Brown had 12 kills, 11 digs and 2 blocks. Annie Antar Annie Antar 5'11" | S Klein | 2021 State TX had 11 kills, 19 assists 8 digs and 2 blocks to fill up the stat sheet. Kierstyn McFall Kierstyn McFall 6'4" | MB Klein | 2022 State #144 Nation TX had 9 kills, and 5 blocks. Devan Taylor Devan Taylor 5'8" | DS/L Klein | 2021 State TX had 9 kills and 11 digs on the day. Mikala Sampson Mikala Sampson 6'1" | MB Klein | 2023 State #109 Nation TX had 8 kills and had a block to help Klein fight. Abby Sweeney contributed 6 kills and had 1 block also. The right arm of Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX proved to be too potent for Klein to contain. This match could have gone either way with both teams refusing to give up, however Seven Lakes was able to come out as the victor in 4 sets (24-26, 25-22, 25-20, 25-22).
Seven Lakes is more that just one player and here are a few that excelled in the title match. Mayo Olibale had 13 kills and 4 huge blocks. Katarina Teahen hit an amazing .727 hitting efficiency with 8 kills on 11 swings to go with her 3 blocks. Emma Schroder had 7 kills and two blocks in the contest. Casey Batenhorst dished out 52 assists and also had 12 digs and two blocks to help her big sister claim the title. The defense was handle by Kailey Bickel (16 digs), and Emma Manuel (12 digs). But they were led by a heavy dose of their workhorse. All-world player Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX had 30 kills on 87 total attempts, 15 digs, and two blocks to lead Seven Lakes to their Texas State Title.
The following players received All Tournament honors from UIL at the State Tournament.
- Casey Batenhorst- Junior – Seven Lakes
- Mayo Olibale- Junior – Seven Lakes
- Annie Antar Annie Antar 5'11" | S Klein | 2021 State TX – Senior – Klein
- Gaby Mansfield – Junior – Klein
- Kierstyn McFall Kierstyn McFall 6'4" | MB Klein | 2022 State #144 Nation TX – Junior – Klein
Championship Match Most Valuable Player
- Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX – Senior – Seven Lakes
We have previewed Miss Batenhorst multiple times but just in case you haven’t read the previous articles, here is a little about her:
Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX 6-4 Outside (HS: Seven Lakes/Club: Houston Juniors/Signed: Nebraska)
Ally Batenhorst Ally Batenhorst 6'4" | OH Seven Lakes | 2021 State TX has shot up the charts and is now ranked as the 3rd best recruit in the 2021 Class according to our updated State Rankings. Previously we had her ranked as the 13th top commit. We published a few articles on this young lady already and here is a little what I wrote, “This Nebraska commit is worth the price of admission. Nebraska has some great volleyball players in its state, so when a player from Texas is recruited to one of the best programs in the country, it says a lot about the player. She is the real deal. Standing at six foot four and playing on either pin she has been a joy to watch. She is a very gifted athlete who hits with so much power. She has every offensive weapon in her arsenal. In high school it is almost a guaranteed kill when she got the set. She regularly got over 25 kills in a match. Seven Lakes high school set her in the front row and the back row and she scored at will. We are looking forward to watching her play college volleyball on television. She is currently leading her team to a State Title game birth this weekend and has been the unstoppable driving force for the Seven Lakes offense. She just broke her own school record of 32 kills with a semi-final tally of 36 total kills in a five-set amazing win over SA Reagan to earn a second trip to the finals in four years. People can discuss who the best players are all day long until we are blue in the face, but numbers do not lie. This young lady has proven on the court that her top Outside Ranking is legit. In a state of such amazing talent, the cream always rises to the top.” Her 62 kills in the semis and finals has every volleyball enthusiast drooling with excitement. She is a joy to watch and has proven that she belongs in the discussion amongst the best in the country with her senior season accomplishments. We are proud of her and her teammates with their State Title.
Seven Lakes had an amazing year and capped it off with a UIL 6A State Championship. Please help us congratulate them on a wonderful season.
We will be publishing more articles weekly to give recognition to those teams and athletes who are playing great in their matches. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone that you think deserves to be recognized as a player of the week, feel free to send me a message with their information. Or if you have anyone that you think have what it takes to be added to our database, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for following our publication.