Lady Horns Season Ends In the State Semifinals

A historic season for the Schulenburg volleyball team ended Wednesday in Garland with a four-set loss to Windthorst in the state semifinals.

It was the first state tournament berth for Schulenburg volleyball since the 2014 season.

The Lady Horns lost the first two sets to Windthorst Wednesday 25-15, 25-18 before bouncing back to take the third set 25-22, but Windthorst then won the final set 25-11.

“We just got off to a tough start. Our serve receive wasn’t up to par,” said Schuleburg head coach Donald Zapalac in the post-match press conference. “They (Winthorst) put a lot of quality hitters out there. We never really got our offense going ... They had two big blockers in our face most of the night.”

The Lady Horns end their season with a 32-17 record.

“Early in the season we were not where we wanted to be,” Zapalac said. “We went on a 18-4 run to finish the season. The effort that these kids have shown has been tremendous ... I don’t think people understand how hard it is to get to the state tournament.”

Three seniors were playing in their final match for Schulenburg – Tamara Otto, Mackenzie Kunschick and Harly Zapalac.

“We made great adjustments and made it all the way to the state tournament and I’m happy with how far this team has come, how much we’ve grown and worked together,” Otto said the postmatch press conference.

Jessalyn Gipson led Schulenburg in kills with 16 and Kunschick had 10 and Otto four.

Freshman Landry Zapalac had 28 assists. Kieryn Adams had 16 digs, Otto had nine, Avery Helms had eight and Zapalac seven.

Meredith Magliolo and Otto each had two blocks.

Windthorst (41-8) advanced to Friday’s state championship match where they beat Lindsay in five sets. Schulenburg now turns its attention to next year.

“I think we have a lot to look forward too, we’ll continue to grow as a team,” Magliolo, a junior, said in the post-match press conference.

“This season didn’t end how we wanted it to, but we’ll use that as motivation for next year,” Adams, another junior, said in the post-match press conference.

UIL State volleyball title matches 1A: Blum def. D’Hanis 3-0 2A: Windthorst def. Lindsay 3-2 3A: Gunter def. Bushland 3-0 4A: Canyon Randall def. Aubrey 3-0 5A; Colleyville Heritage def. Frisco Reedy 3-1 6A: Dripping Springs def. Katy Tompkins 3-0

2022 27-2A All District Volleyball Team

Most Valuable Player: #11 Meredith Magliolo Jr. MB, Schulenburg Setter of the Year: #7 Landry Zapalac Fr. S, Schulenburg Offensive Player of the Year: #9 Rylee Vancura Jr. S/OH, Shiner Defensive Player of the Year: #10 Chelsea Whiddon Jr. MB, Shiner #10 Paige Pavlu Sr. MB, Weimar Defensive Specialist of the Year: #9 Kieryn Adams Jr. L, Schulenburg Newcomer of the Year: #12 Summer Sodek Fr. S/OH, Flatonia

2022 27AA All District Volleyball Team First Team Number Name School Class Position 1. #17 Mackenzie Kunschick Schulenburg Sr. OH 2. #6 Tamara Otto Schulenburg Sr. OPP 3. #8 Jessalyn Gipson Schulenburg Jr. OH 4. #1 Meghan Blaschke Shiner Sr. S 5. #7 Julie Ivy Shiner Sr. OPP 6. #4 Aimee Mitchon Shiner Jr. MB 7. #7 Kim Hinze Weimar Sr. S/RS 8. #2 Chandley Tolbert Weimar So. OH 9. #2 Macy Bonds Flatonia Sr. S 10. #8 Braidy Fike Flatonia Sr. MB 11. #5 Addison Lewis Louise Sr. MB Second Team Number Name School Class Position 1. #5 Brooke Redding Schulenburg Jr. MB 2. #12 Avery Boedeker Shiner Sr. RS 3. #3 Chesney Machacek Shiner So. OH 4. #2 Callie Sevcik Shiner So. L 5. #12 Janiyah Cooper Weimar Fr. MB 6. #3 Taylor Smith Weimar So. OH/RS 7. #16 Elzah Herrera Flatonia So. L 8. #7 Kylee Creager Louise Sr. MB 9. #1 Kate Garrett Louise Sr. L 10. #6 Ja’Lai Foster Ganado Sr. MB

Honorable Mention (Fayette County only) Schulenburg Avery Helms, Keaton Walker Flatonia

Emma Klozik, Kaylee Martinez

Academic All District ((Fayette County only) Flatonia Macy Bonds Braidy Fike Elzah Herrera Emma Klozik Kaylee Martinez Aubree Mikulenka Jordyn Ponewash Avalon Saavedra Camryn Smith Summer Sodek Katie Templeton

Schulenburg

Kieryn Adams Haylie Goode Meredith Magliolo Tamara Otto Brooke Redding Rilee Sanchez Presley Sommer Harly Zapalac Landry Zapalac