Brandeis, Smithson Valley prevail in volleyball playoff doubleheader

Riding the momentum that carried them to district championships, Brandeis and Smithson Valley recorded playoff victories in a doubleheader held Thursday at Littleton Gym.

Junior Cecily Alva had 15 kills and freshman Addison Wells had 40 assists to lead Brandeis to a 25-17, 25-18, 26-24 victory against Pieper in a Class 6A Division II first-round playoff.

Meanwhile, freshman Victoria Jaster had 22 kills, and senior Emma Feomaia had 41 assists for Smithson Valley in a 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-12 win against Alamo Heights in a 5A Division I playoff.

Brandeis climbed out of a third-set hole to secure the sweep. Junior Olivia Munoz added 14 kills and junior Addison Rodgers had 12 for the Broncos, who improved to 30-13 and next face Dripping Springs – a five-set winner over Round Rock Stony Point Thursday – in the second round.

Brandeis trailed 17-11 in the third set before mounting its comeback. Pieper (27-16) nearly stretched it to a fourth set after taking a 23-18 lead. The Broncos responded with a 6-0 run to reach match point at 24-23. Alva had two kills and Araceli had an ace during that stretch.

After Pieper erased one match point, the Broncos secured it by forcing a hitting error on the second match point.

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“We’re the kind of team that doesn’t give up,” Munoz said. “We’ve had games where we’ve been down further than those points and we came back and won.”

In the first set, Brandeis led 14-13 before a lengthy serving run from Munoz got things going for the Broncos, who extended their lead to 23-13. Munoz had three aces and Rodgers had two kills and a block during that sequence that put the first set out of reach for Pieper.

“I think serving to a tough team like that is very important,” Munoz said. “It definitely kept the momentum of our team, and I feel that allowed us to win. We’re a team that has grit and we really dig deep and we want to win at the end of the day.”   

After dropping the first point, Brandeis never trailed in the second set. The Broncos held the lead at 8-2, 19-15 and 23-16 before locking it up with a block by Wells.

Brandeis had defeated Pieper twice before entering Thursday’s match. The Broncos outlasted the Warriors in four sets in a non-district match on Aug. 25. Two days later, Brandeis prevailed in two sets in a tournament contest.

After starting 1-2 in District 28-6A, the Broncos won 11 in a row to earn a co-championship with Reagan. They showed that type of determination to win the third set.

“That definitely gave us a lot of momentum coming into playoffs, especially that Reagan game mid-district season. It gave us that mindset that we played the hardest team in our district and beat them in three. We can keep going and we have so much more potential to keep building off of.”

Smithson Valley entered the postseason with an undefeated run (14-0) in winning the District 25-5A title.

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“That gave us a bunch of confidence, but not so much that we’re going to be overconfident,” Feomaia said. “It definitely puts some experience under our belt when we go into playoffs.”

The Rangers led for most of the third set before a late rush allowed Alamo Heights (29-14) to take it. Smithson Valley was up 22-18 before the Mules went on 7-1 run that sealed it.

Smithson Valley rebounded with a strong finish by Jaster, whose 22nd kill capped a 6-0 run that secured the match.

“Everybody in the gym knows she’s a big hitter,” Feomaia said. “Whenever we’re in trouble, I know who to go to, and that’s Tori.”

Smithson Valley next faces Laredo Nixon, which defeated Highlands on Thursday.

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This article originally published at Brandeis, Smithson Valley prevail in volleyball playoff doubleheader.