(Championship: Cypress Woods vs. Pearland) 

(Third-place game: Clear Creek vs. Katy)

Rare are the times the Cypress Woods volleyball team suffers from a lack of effective communication.

They talk constantly, rarely miss a ball and almost immediately bounce back from errors.

It’s little wonder, then, that after junior middle blocker Desiree Elliot was named Most Valuable Player of the Spring Branch ISD Tournament on Saturday afternoon, she wouldn’t do an interview without the team’s seven seniors.

"We're really team-oriented. We've played together so long that we have great chemistry," Elliot said after recording seven kills in the Wildcats’ 25-20, 25-20 victory against Pearland at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The win kept the Wildcats undefeated at 14-0 and gave them their second tournament championship in as many Saturdays. They won the Cy-Fair ISD Tournament seven days prior.

Surprised? The Wildcats, who advanced to the regional quarterfinals last year without any seniors, aren't.

"I don't think we can call it exceeding expectations because we only expect the best," Wildcats setter Caleigh McCorquodale said. "Last year was our year to come out with no pressure. We just wanted to come out and prove to everyone this year that we can do it."

Woods took an early 19-13 lead in the first set, but back-to-back kills by Pearland’s Jasmine Terry sparked a mini-run that got the Oilers within 22-18. But Woods changed up the game, going to finesse as outside hitter Daniela Arenas snuck a tip over three Pearland (9-5) defenders – something that happened a handful of times Saturday – to make it 24-20 and all but seal the win.

Terry recorded three more huge kills – she had a game-high 10 – and kept the Oilers competitive in the second set despite early deficits of 8-4 and 10-5. She, sophomore outside hitter/setter Malorie Pardo and senior middle blocker Rebecca Felix brought the Oilers within 20-19, but a net serve gave side-out to the Wildcats, who closed on a 5-1 run.

"We just played our game and we were able to keep up with them," Elliot said.

Bronte Vereb’s line-drive of a serve on match point was tipped out by a Pearland player to end the game.

Arenas had eight kills for Cy Woods.

"We don't get down," McCorquodale said. "The game earlier (the semifinal against Katy) we were down 6-1 and we came back. We never shut down."

THIRD PLACE: Clear Creek d. Katy 25-22, 25-18
Clear Creek didn’t reel for long from an upset loss in the semifinals, controlling the tempo of the third-place game from the outset to send suddenly struggling Katy to its third straight loss.

Megan Pendergast had nine kills and Cherish Krohn added six for the Wildcats (12-2), who lost in three sets to Pearland in the semifinals.

“We’re a little worn out; we had our first home match (Friday) night against Kingwood and we played really well,” Wildcats coach Scott Simonds said. “The Pearland game, we felt like we needed to win in two and when we didn’t close it out we gave them some momentum. They were good; they were digging everything we hit. …

“We wanted to win this tournament but if we couldn’t we at least wanted to end with a win. That Katy team is good; they’re very experienced. Overall we didn’t make as many hitting errors as them as we did against Pearland and we were serving a lot better.”

Matte Haack had eight kills for Katy, which started 13-0 but lost to Cypress Falls, Cy Woods and Creek within about 27 hours. The Tigers host Stratford on Tuesday.
***
Spring Branch ISD Tournament All-Tournament Team
Megan Pendergast, Clear Creek; Becky Bekelja, Clear Creek; Jennifer Jordan, Stratford; Shawn Hindman, Memorial; Matte Haack, Katy; Heather Leaverton, Pearland; Marissa Collins, Pearland.
Most Valuable Libero: Cristina Arenas, Cypress Woods.
Most Valuable Setter: Caleigh McCorquodale, Cypress Woods.
Most Valuable Attacker: Malorie Pardo, Pearland.
Most Valuable Player: Desiree Elliot, Cypress Woods.

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