Southall, Lady 'Cats Dazzle on Opening Day of Nita Vannoy Memorial Tournament

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Nita Vannoy Memorial Tournament kicked off with 32 teams spread across four campuses in San Angelo on Friday.

Through the first four pools, a few area teams put on quite a show, like the Central Lady Cats who went 3-0 in pool play.

In Pool 3, Class 4A Pecos knocked off Permian in three sets for the upset of the tournament so far.

Pool 1:

1. Central (3-0)
2. Water Valley (2-1)
3. Wall (1-2)
4. El Paso Irvin (0-3)

The Lady Cats dominated their pool play, winning all three matches in two sets.

They kicked off the tournament in dominant fashion by beating Water Valley 25-12 in each set.

Seniors Trinity Southall, Abbie Rivera and Kirsten Gomez led the way for the Lady Cats with five kills.

Junior setter Veronica Guerrero was stellar running the offense, tallying 19 assists in the win.

Southall and Anastasia Candela each had two aces, as well.

The Lady Cats continued their form against the Wall Lady Hawks in game two.

Central knocked off Wall 25-9 and 25-12 to complete their second sweep of the day.

Southall was stellar once again at the net for the Lady Cats with a team-leading 9 kills. Guerrero finished with another good outing of 17 assists for Central.

Senior Libero Addi Bonaventure was tough to beat defensively with nine digs in the win.

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To close out the first day of play and book their spot in the Gold Division bracket, the Lady Cats knocked off Irvin in two sets by a combined score of 50-15.

Prior to their losses to Central and Water Valley, the Lady Hawks also knocked off Class 5A Irvin in three sets.

Wall dropped the first set 25-23 before winning the next two sets 25-7 and 25-17.

Rachel Stewart and Rylee Luther were offensive dynamos in that first match. Stewart recorded eight kills while Luther tallied 17 assists.

Kylie Phillips held off Irvin’s offense with 11 digs in that game.

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Central will play the winner from Pool 5 in the Gold Division bracket. Water Valley will face the second place team from Pool 5 in the Silver Division bracket. Wall will be in the Bronze Division bracket where they’ll face the third place team from Pool 5.

Pool 2:

1. Odessa (3-0)
2. Sweetwater (2-1)
3. Crane (1-2)
4. Cornerstone (0-3)

Pool 3:

1. Bronte (2-1)
2. Permian (2-1)
3. Pecos (2-1)
4. Grape Creek (0-3)

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Bronte won first place in this pool via a tiebreaker. They started off 2-0 with a pair off straight-set wins before losing to Permian in the final game. Bronte beat Grape Creek 25-14 and 25-11 before knocking off Pecos 25-20 in each set.

However, since Permian lost to Pecos, that sent the tiebreaker to points scored against. Bronte allowed 115 points while Permian allowed 118.

Grape Creek fell in straight sets in each of their match.

Bronte will face the first place team from Pool 7 at Lake View tomorrow in the Gold Division. Permian will be in the Silver Division and avoid any potential meeting with their rival Central. Pecos will be at Lincoln Middle School tomorrow in the Bronze Division. Grape Creek will stay at Lee Middle School for the Bronze Challenger Division.

Pool 4:

1. Andrews (3-0)
2. Ingram Moore (2-1)
3. Lake View (1-2)
4. Sterling City (0-3)

The two Concho Valley teams in this pool ran into some serious competition with Andrews and Moore.

Lake View was able to steal a win after dropping the first set in their opener against Sterling City. The Maidens dominated the next set 25-7 before Sterling City put up a fight in the third set which Lake View won 25-23.

The Maidens then fell in straight sets in their next two matches.

Sterling City looked to be on a good pace against Ingram Moore after winning the first set 25-18. Moore then stormed back to knock off Sterling City in the next two sets.

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Andrews also swept the Lady Eagles with scores of 25-11 and 25-15.

Lake View will be in the Bronze Division at Lincoln Middle School on Saturday.

Sterling City will play in the Bronze Challenger Division at Lee Middle School.

The eight pools have all completed the first day of play and the brackets are set. The matchups for Saturday are as follows:

Gold Division

Lake View High School

• Central vs Midland Christian, 8 a.m.
• Odessa vs Lubbock Coronado, 9 a.m.
• Bronte vs Bushland, 10 a.m.
• Andrews vs Frenship, 11 a.m.

Silver Division

Central High School

• Water Valley vs Veribest, 8 a.m.
• Sweetwater vs Monahans, 9 a.m.
• Odessa Permian vs Midland Greenwood, 10 a.m.
• Ingram Moore vs Del Rio, 11 a.m.

Bronze Division

Lincoln Middle School

• Wall vs Colorado City, 8 a.m.
• Crane vs Miles, 9 a.m.
• Pecos vs El Paso Jefferson, 10 a.m.
• Lake View vs Wink, 11 a.m.

Bronze Challenger Division

Lee Middle School

• El Paso Irvin vs Presidio, 8 a.m.
• Cornerstone vs Lake View JV, 9 a.m.
• Grape Creek vs Central JV, 10 a.m.
• Sterling City vs Marble Falls, 11 a.m.