Burnet and Wimberley: ready for round three
Wimberley had a bye in the first round and then swept Decatur in the area playoffs to garner a spot in the regional quarterfinals. The Lady Dawgs torpedoed Gatesville in three sets in the bi-district match and drew a bye in the area playoffs to advance.
“We are very excited to be playing Wimberley again,” said head coach Bethany Grissom. “We know that it is going to be good volleyball and that gets the girls pumped.”
The loser drops out of the playoff hunt while the winner will be bound for the Regional semi-finals in Lubbock Nov. 14-15 to battle the winner of the Wylie-Pecos match. Wimberley has beaten a path to the state tournament winning six titles in the last nine years while Burnet is on a road rarely traveled.
“The girls know that anything is possible on any given night,” Grissom said. “Wimberley is going to be very prepared for us, and it should be a great match.”
Both squads are still fuming about their district losses to each other. Burnet handed the Lady Texans their first district beating in years while the Lady Dawgs were thrashed at Wimberley in the rematch. If the first two meetings are any indication, round three should be a bombshell – the ultimate grudge match that could ignite absolute mayhem with a mighty prize at stake.
“The matchup will be very different this time because there is a lot more riding on this game than before,” Grissom said. “It will be very exciting.”
Adeptness at every position and strong defenses are the cornerstones of both Wimberley and the Lady Dawgs. Burnet will try to answer the athleticism of Lady Texan Katie Milam, the state’s 2007 tournament most valuable player who is a superb hitter and an excellent defender, with a balanced attack and the power of outside hitters Eden Sultemeir and Laura Servise.
This Lady Dawg squad, under Grissom, surpasses the accomplishments of any Burnet volleyball team in recent history. The 1987 squad led by 6-foot 1-inch Michelle Solesbery, Melinda Gholson, Chana Jones and Valerie Valadez piloted the Lady Dawgs to a 21-10 season that included a district championship and a run into the area finals. That squad also included Lanette Butler, Christina Escamilla, Christy Haynes, Dawn Kinsey, Sonja Fisher and Shelly Brinkley.