Playing on Friday night didn’t impact the crosstown showdown between Amarillo High and Tascosa with the District 3-5A championship on the line.
A standing room only electric crowd packed the AHS Activity Center to watch a winner take all district championship game, and as it turned out the Lady Sandies were able to defend home court getting revenge on the Lady Rebels from a loss early in district play in four sets, 25-19, 18-25, 25-17, 25-19.
Tradition-rich Amarillo High once again holds on to the crown of District 3-5A with the victory going 17-1 in the league while finishing the regular season at 31-9.
“I’m proud of our community and everyone that supports us,” AHS head coach Haleigh Burns said. Throughout the week people were talking about this game and that made a big difference. It was 5 p.m. on a Friday, but this place was packed. I live for moments like this and we thrived in the pressure of a district championship environment.”
The Lady Sandies will be the No. 1-seed in the UIL Class 5A Division I playoffs. Tascosa ends the regular season at 26-15 and 16-2. The Lady Rebels will be the No. 2-seed in the Class 5A Division I postseason.
Just like the first meeting that the Lady Rebels won in four, this match saw these two teams split the first two sets. The difference this time was the play of Harper Vaughan and Brenna Seideman on the front row. Tascosa did a good job of stopping the two hitters in the first contest, however, Vaughan and Sideman brought balance to the offense combining for 29 kills. Vaughan led the team with 15 and Seideman chipped in 14.
“I didn’t think we played well the first time against Tascosa,” Burns said. “I always tell are team anyone can win on a given night and we didn’t show up the first time and they beat us. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves and it was a good lesson. We responded well this time around. Harper and Brenna were huge. Brenna really stepped up to help Harper and she has been doing that a lot.”
Vaughan was sharp on defense nabbing 15 digs for a double-double. Libero Ansley Davis did her job with a team-high digs and Dillan Ray ran the offense with 22 assists.
Tascosa’s Blaire Whatley landed a team-best 14 kills and Emily Caviness went for 30 digs.
Photos by Roy Wheeler:
