High School Sports

CARTHAGE -- Robert E. Lee breezed through pool play Friday at the Carthage tournament, dropping only one game in its three matches.

The Lady Raiders (4-0) swept Henderson and Queen City in two games. In its final pool-play match against recent nemesis White Oak, the Lady Raiders split the first two games, but won the next one to claim the best-of-three match.

"Overall, we played much better today," said REL head coach Melissa Lee. "They've adjusted to not (having Squirtisha Moore or Beth Jasper) in the lineup, and are much more comfortable with that rotation."

Last year's All-ET newcomer of the year, Moore is still recovering from injury while returning starter Jasper is away on a leadership council retreat and hasn't practiced.

REL overcame 24 unforced errors in its season-opening win over Spring Hill, but enjoyed more consistent play on Friday. As pool winners, the Lady Raiders advance to the championship bracket. REL will take on Hallsville at 11 a.m. today at Carthage High School.

The Lady Raiders started slowly against Henderson as neither team could take the initiative. Finally, with the score tied at 17-17, REL rattled off eight of the next nine points to take Game 1. In Game 2, things were tight again until another Lee run yielded a 25-18, 25-17 sweep.

Sydney Lindsay and Sarah Sivertson paced REL in the victory as Lindsay finished with 10 kills and Sivertson tallied nine kills, 11 assists and two blocks. Beth Felix added 10 assists.

REL dominated Queen City from the start, winning 25-2, 25-10. Sivertson registered nine kills and 10 assists with Caroline George adding eight kills and Haley Weaver finishing with three blocks.

Of Lee's seven losses last season, two of them came courtesy of White Oak. The Lady Raiders got a little payback to win 25-17, 22-25, 25-16. Lindsay led REL with 12 kills while Felix had 23 assists. Sivertson contributed 26 assists, eight kills and four blocks with Eva Story notching 10 digs.

"They lost most of their players, but they are still a solid team fundamentally and don't make a lot of mistakes," said Lee about White Oak. "Sarah (Sivertson) blocked them pretty well today and that fired everyone up."

GARLAND -- The John Tyler spikers dropped two of three matches in pool play Friday in the Garland ISD Tournament.

The Lady Lions opened with losses to Sachse (2-0) and Rockwall Heath (0-2). JT defeated Carrollton Turner (2-0) in its final match to finish third in the pool.

JT (2-3) returns to action at 8 a.m. today in the 16-team, double-elimination challenger's bracket.

VAN -- The Whitehouse volleyball team went 2-1 Friday in pool play to advance to the championship bracket of the Van tournament. The LadyCats split against Eustace (15-8, 15-17) before sweeping Athens (15-6, 15-11) and Chapel Hill (15-2, 15-7).

Whitehouse will next face Canton at 10 a.m. today at Van High School.

Leading the way for Whitehouse in Friday's wins were juniors Sadie Hillburn (10 digs, 12 kills, 18 service points, two aces, two blocks) and Sarah Stanley (16 assists, 18 service points, six aces). Senior Christine Ford also contributed a well-rounded 12 assists, nine kills and 17 service points with two aces.