Burnet-Salado volleyball match to determine No. 1 playoff seed

The Burnet and Salado high school volleyball teams ended the regular season as District 19-4A co-champions and now must determine who will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The two square off at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, at Georgetown High, 2211 N. Austin Ave. in Georgetown.

The winner faces Manor New Tech in a bi-district championship as the No. 1 seed. The loser and No. 2 seed gets Smithville. No matter which bi-district opponent the Lady Dawgs face, they will meet them at either 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, at Thrall High School, 601 S. Bounds St. in Thrall.

Burnet (20-18 overall, 9-1 district) and Salado (21-16, 9-1) each have district wins against each other, both on home courts.

“I’m super proud,” Burnet head coach Crystal Shipley said about her team’s share of the title. “These girls have done it themselves. They have worked really hard to get here.”

It’s Shipley’s first district crown in her three years as Burnet’s head coach. The Lady Dawgs were fourth in district her first year and third last season. 

She gave the credit to her players, especially since they entered district play with a losing record.

“It started to come together,” she said as the team wrapped up pre-district. “We were missing people from sickness, and we couldn’t get everyone to mesh. We finally stuck with something. And the seniors, they really wanted it.”

Less of a factor in this meeting will be crowd noise with both schools having football games the same night. In Burnet’s loss to Salado on the road Oct. 19, the home crowd was as disruptive as possible, moving with the Lady Dawgs when the squads switched benches after each set. Salado came back from two sets down to win the match in five.

“It humbled them and reminded them that everything is earned,” Shipley said about her team’s only district loss.

jfierro@thepicayune.com