ROUNDUP: Rock-A-Noos coach sees progress after tough Saturday in Pearland

Published 10:47 pm Saturday, August 10, 2019

Despite losing six of eight matches in the John Turner Classic in Pearland, Port Neches-Groves coach Brittany Fruge said the scoreboard “doesn’t always tell the story.”

On the scoreboard, Ursuline Academy of Dallas took a 25-16, 25-9 win over PNG, and San Antonio Brennan earned a 25-21, 25-19 victory over the Rock-A-Noos. But it’s what the Rock-A-Noos (4-6) did during the three-day event Fruge addressed in a Twitter post.

“We are working on new lineups, trying to find what will work best, and the only thing I asked this team to do this weekend was to stay together no matter what,” Fruge said. “We came to a competitive tournament to get experience. Everyone wants to win; we did too but I’ll take the 2 wins and 6 losses any day because my kids got better. They chose growth. They are going to embrace and trust the process. We shouldn’t be peaking right now. We are still learning and our new faces on the varsity are still getting comfortable playing at a high/much faster level.”

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Against Ursuline, Paxton Shults finished with 11 assists, Kasidee Sartin had six digs and Layla Stansbury and Elizabeth Bolyard each totaled five kills. Bolyard had 10 kills against Brennan, with Shults making eight assists, Halley Smith five digs and Sartin two aces.

“We lost the last match to a competitive 6A [team] from Brennan, but every single kid on the bench and on the floor stayed engaged and stayed positive,” Fruge said. “They let their mistakes go, they competed for every point. As a coach that was all I asked of them going into that match. They responded well. We have a lot to work on but this is what preseason is for. I’m excited for this group and I can already tell that all of them have bought into what we want our culture to be. I’m proud of them. This weekend we got a little better and we cannot wait to take the floor Tuesday night and continue our journey together.”

PNG will host Galveston Ball on Tuesday.

 

Sharks finish third in O’Connell Silver bracket

Two victories Saturday at the Galveston O’Connell tournament helped Sabine Pass finish third in the Silver bracket.

The Sharks defeated Pasadena Faith 27-26, 25-14, lost to The Village School of Houston 25-12, 25-16, and beat Houston Grace Christian 26-24, 25-21. Charnel Jones of Sabine Pass was named to the all-tournament team.

The Sharks (3-3) will host Chester at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

 

Bob Hope opens by beating High Island

In Port Arthur, Bob Hope opened its season defeating High Island 25-9, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18. Statistics were not available.

The Eagles will host Spurger on Tuesday.

 

Nederland drops 2 more in Pearland

In the John Turner Classic in Pearland, Nederland (2-6) suffered two more defeats Saturday.

Mission Veterans Memorial beat Nederland 25-20, 25-14 despite 10 assists and an ace from Kamren Savarino. Karley McGill contributed five kills, and Katie Perez and Hannah Hickey three each.

The Bulldogs could not force a third set against Kingwood Park, who took a 25-14, 25-22 win. Savarino had 11 assists and four digs, while Perez (five kills, six digs) and McGill (four kills, seven digs) were both active on offense and defense. Hannah Torres and Hickey each had four kills and Kaylee Adams totaled 11 digs.

Nederland will host Hardin-Jefferson on Tuesday.

 

West Brook, Spurger top Memorial in Woodville

In the Woodville tournament, Port Arthur Memorial (0-8) came close to forcing a third set with Spurger, but the Lady Titans were edged 25-16, 30-28 in their final match Saturday. Earlier in the day, West Brook best Memorial 25-15, 25-8.

Statistics were not available. Memorial will visit Little Cypress-Mauriceville on Tuesday.

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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