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Sachse knocks off Rowlett to claim GISD Tournament title
By DEVIN HASSON/Staff Writer
Sachse is hoping history repeats itself.
A year ago, Rowlett defeated the Mustangs in the final of the Garland ISD Tournament and went on to claim the district championship.
On Saturday, it Sachse who turned the tables, notching a 26-24, 25-22 victory over the Eagles to claim the championship at the GISD Tournament at Sachse High School.
“We had a lot of errors against Plano, we struggled in pretty much all areas at some point during that match, but all this preseason is just a process, figuring out who needs to go where and to get the girls comfortable with each other,” Sachse head coach Rikki Jones said. “The tournament went really well, it’s the first time in school history we won a tournament so that was awesome. Last year we played Rowlett in the final and lost, so we got second and this year we won it for the first time ever so I’m excited.”
It was fitting that these two teams met in the tournament final, which included all seven GISD schools in the 32-team field. Since Sachse opened, the two programs have won or shared the last four district championships.
As seems to be the case every time they meet, it was tight throughout. The difference proved to be the Mustangs’ defense at the net, as they registered nine blocks for points and altered numerous other shots.
Freshman Adrien Richburg had a team-high seven blocks, Lauren Fox had four blocks and three kills, while Marissa Olivares led Sachse with nine kills in the match.
“Adrien Richburg had a great blocking match against Rowlett and she’s just a freshman so she’s just going to get better and better and better,” Jones said. “I can put Lauren and Allegra (Wells) or Adrien and Allegra together and that is two six-foot kids in front of the outside hitter. We work on blocking pretty much every day … and we’re going to continue to work on that so it is there every game.”
Both games followed a similar script, with Rowlett grabbing an early lead only to have Sachse rally back to win in the end.
In game two, Heather Rigby had three of her six kills to stake the Eagles to a 9-4 lead and force a Mustang timeout. Sachse chipped away behind a pair of kills by Olivares and another from Fox, but Lauren Hawkins responded for Rowlett to give them a 16-12 lead.
A four-point service run by Lainey Clark to tie the game was countered by one of eight kills from Jasmine Norton as the Eagles maintained an 18-16 advantage.
But Sachse continued to apply the pressure and a three-point serving run by Katelyn Tuttle, which included two more kills from Olivares, gave the Mustangs a 22-20 lead.
Rowlett battled back to tie it, but Fox had a kill and Olivares added smashes on the next two points to close out the match with a 25-22 victory.
The Eagles had gotten off to a strong start behind Norton and Hawkins, who combined for eight kills and four blocks in the first game. Rowlett led 9-6 before a pair of blocks by Adrien Richburg helped ignite a four-point run to take a 10-9 lead.
The score remained tight and was tied at 18-18 until Wells, Haley Richburg and Adrien Richburg all had blocks for points to give Sachse a 22-18 advantage.
The Mustangs had game point at 24-20 before Rigby reeled off a four-point serving run, highlighted by three kills from Nicole Meyer, to tie it up. But Sachse regained serve on a Rowlett error and closed it out on a serve by Adrien Richburg to claim the opening game.
Because the GISD Tournament has historically featured all the district’s schools, it is often a good barometer for gauging a team’s success once district rolls around.
But despite the excitement of winning the event for the first time, Jones knows there is still a long way for her team to go.
“It’s got to help them. It doesn’t affect me, maybe, as much as it affects them,” she said. “There’s been years we beat them in the tournament and then lose in district, and vice versa, so these two teams come October are very different than they are now … but the kids might take something from it in that we won, so we can do it again later,”
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