In the News

Jags in the News

Sept. 16, 2009 - Lady Jags on a Roll

Sept. 12, 2009 - Jags serve their way past Cedar Hill

Sept. 9, 2009 - Flower Mound pastes Plano East

Sept. 2, 2009 - Plano West sweeps Flower Mound

Aug. 30, 2009 - A big day for the little guy in Pearland

Written by Scott White

QUARTERFINALS

The quarterfinals had what promised to be interesting showdowns, but in most cases turned out to be easy sweeps. The only one that lived up to billing was the Pearce - Stratford shootut. After splitting games one and two, Stratford had Pearce down 18-10 in game three and even after a ferocious Pearce comeback, the Spartans had match point but couldn't close it out and the Mustang balanced offense and frustrating defense advanced with a dramatic 22-25, 25-19, 27-25 win. The best of the other three quarterfinals was the one that had the potential to be the biggest blowout -- Reagan and Flower Mound. Flower Mound was the surprise of the Gold bracket, having knocked off Pflugerville, Bowie and Round Rock for the opportunity to meet the Rattlers. And for much of the match, they made the most of their opportunity. With Liz Theesfeld and Brittney Vanarsdale repeatedly scoring from the left and libero Annie Aspenson making terrific play after terrific play, Flower Mound kept pace with Reagan for much of both games, but ultimately they couldn't control Kayla Keller and Evans down the stretch and the Rattlers advanced to their semifinal meeting with Westwood 25-20, 25-17. The other two quarterfinals failed to deliver on their promise. College Park rolled into its quarterfinal with Westwood, coming off an impressive three-game win over Westlake on Friday night. But Westwood never let the Park in the match. Colson realized early that College Park was not going to be able to stop the middle attack and she repeatedly went to Deardorff and Ellen Hawks, who blasted away almost without challenge. The aggressive serving of Westwood and their attack, meanwhile, kept College Park from ever getting into their offense the way they did on Friday. In the main gym, meanwhile, The Woodlands turned a late game one rally into a rout. Their opponent, Cinco Ranch, was coming off its upsets of Allen and Amarillo on Friday. And for awhile, it looked like we had a battle. At 17-17 in game one, however, Messing took over with three kills and two stuffs in a 6-0 run to break it open. Cinco Ranch made a brief rally thanks to several Woodlands errors, but could get no closer than three. That seemed to take the energy out of Cinco Ranch and The Woodlands exploded early and often, jumping to a 12-2 lead in game tow the cruising home with the 25-22, 25-10 sweep.

Aug. 27, 2009 - Lady Jaguars Ready for Pearland

Aug. 13, 2009 - Jaguars Win Season Opener

Aug. 7, 2009 - Jaguars Primed For Redemtion

July 29, 2009 - Pair of Lady Jags compete at national beach volleyball tourney

Aug. 5, 2009 - Lady Jags Intent on Bouncing Back

By John English, Contributing Writer

The Flower Mound volleyball team just missed the playoffs in 2008, a disappointment coach Marci Brinkman said her team does not plan to duplicate.
The Lady Jaguars have a number of returning players from last year’s team getting ready for the upcoming 2009 season. Leading up to the start of the season, Brinkman said things are shaping up well.
"Things are looking good," Brinkman said. "We have some younger ones that are going to step it up this year, and we have a strong junior class as well. We have some seniors who are back from injuries, so it is just a positive tone right now."
Brinkman said that the team’s objectives for this season are pretty simple.
"One of our goals is to go to the playoffs," Brinkman said. "Last year, it was a tough race. We were tied for second after the first round, and then had an unfortunate second round.
"I think our main goal is to be consistent and play at our level the whole time and try to be one of the top contenders in our district this year."
Brinkman said that she expects a couple of players in particular to be among the team leaders this season. Outside hitter Lizzie Theesfield is a junior, but was Flower Mound’s MVP as a sophomore last year. Another returning player the Lady Jaguars expect to lean on is libero Annie Aspenson.
Brinkman said that it would be difficult for her to predict which district teams will be the ones to beat this season because there is so much parity in 6-5A.
The Flower Mound coach said that she only has one concern heading into the season, but said it is something she believes the team can overcome.
"The one thing that we had last year was that we weren’t consistent in our play," Brinkman said. "But I think the girls learned from that, and it is going to make them a lot stronger of a team this year."
To have a strong season and make the playoffs in 2009 will take teamwork in Flower Mound’s attack and in halting opponents’ offensive attempts.
"I think that for our defense, blocking well is important, and our hitters connecting with our setters is going to be key this year," Brinkman said.