District 22-5A volleyball teams each played four matches in five days through Tuesday.

By this coming Tuesday, half a district season will have gone by.

“I think with us losing so much time and having to play back-to-back, it may have had an effect on us early,” Port Arthur Memorial coach Bianca Dixon said. “But now, we’re in a groove.”

For rivals Port Neches-Groves and Nederland, they’ve gotten off to a quick start, a great sign of progress considering nobody was playing for two weeks after Tropical Storm Harvey.

“Everything has been coming together in the last two to three weeks since coming back from the hurricane,” first-year Nederland coach Allie Crommett said.

District 22-5A has gone perfectly for PNG (17-5, 4-0) so far. Last season’s No. 1 seed, who along with Nederland are reigning district co-champions, is sitting all alone atop the standings following Tuesday’s home win over Beaumont Central.

Nederland (14-9, 3-1) fell out of a first-place tie Tuesday following a four-set defeat at Livingston (4-0 in 22-5A) and is approaching a huge weekend of matches, starting Friday night at home against Memorial and continuing Saturday at PNG. Like in football, the district compressed its volleyball schedule in attempt to finish in time for the 5A playoffs.

Crommett, who’s seen her share of tilts with the Rock-A-Noos playing for Nederland, still likes where the present-day Bulldogs stand.

“The only thing I felt like we really needed to work on is our defense,” Crommett said. “We won the first set [against Livingston], and then the second and third set we struggled with our defense. That’s kind of what we’ve been working on, is fine-tuning our defense.”

“Playoffs” has been the calling card for Memorial, which has never made the postseason since the school was established in 2002. Right now, the Titans are 13-7 and 2-2 after a thrilling five-set win at Vidor, and they’re well in position to end a long drought.

Crommett knows Memorial prides itself on its play at the net, where Diamond Newsome and Nayla Bazile continue to stand out. Dixon said junior libero Janiyah Graham has played excellent defense.

But Crommett has quite a weapon of her own in senior Abbey Montalvo.
The senior setter has put up numbers of a strong utility player, including 24 kills, 20 assists, three digs and two aces in a four-set win over Lumberton. She reached double-digits in kills, assists and digs Tuesday night on the road.

“For most people, you think, ‘Man, that must be their outside hitter or their middle,’” Crommett said. “When you look at us, that’s our setter. She’s getting assists and she’s getting kills and she’s getting digs because she never comes off the court. She’s a utility player in all senses of the word.”

Crommett is hoping Montalvo will land on a college team soon, but she added Montalvo is considering enrolling at Rice for academics.

Dixon said the Titans are anxious for Friday’s match.

“[Friday’s] game is going to set the tone for how we finish,” Dixon said. “We’ve got to go in and steal one of these games and beat one of those top teams.”

Memorial will host PNG on Monday.

With 22-5A football teams playing during school nights through this coming Monday, Crommett has seen good turnout for most of Nederland’s district matches.

“The only match we didn’t have a good turnout was Livingston because it fell on the night of a football game,” she said. “Football players have gotten to come and our students have because it’s going on different days.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

**CORRECTS Livingston’s standing in 22-5A**