THE FLYOVER, VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFF EDITION | Tatum, White Oak, Gilmer, Henderson, WR, & Troup all advance; here’s what they have next

One step closer to a potential state championship?

That’s what Tatum High School volleyball fans are hoping after coach Leven Barker and the Lady Eagles took care of business in rather neat fashion Monday night at Spring Hill High School in Longview, taking down Mineola in three sets, a 25-17, 25-18, 25-19 sweep.

Several ETBlitz.com-area volleyball teams had success on Monday in Tuesday in the first round, although a couple that we don’t have just a lot of information on:

Leverett’s Chapel: The Lady Lions exited the UIL Class 2A playoffs after a sweep by Oakwood, who advances on to face Dodd City on Thursday. Unfortunately, we have no more details on this game, although that finished LC’s 2024 season.

Henderson: Coach Keasa Bonds’ Lady Lions swept Van, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18, on Tuesday night in Gladewater.

That sends the Lady Lions (27-10) to the second round of the UIL Class 4A playoffs. There, they’ll face Sulphur Springs (27-14) on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. in Winona.

Sulphur Springs swept Community, 25-20, 25-23, 28-26, on Monday night.

Now, back to the Lady Eagles.

Tatum (40-5 overall) moves on to round two, the area round, of the University  Interscholastic League’s Class 3A playoffs. That’ll be back to Longview, this time to Pine Tree High School, on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. to take on Hughes Springs (24-17). HSSH beat New Boston in three as well, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14, on Tuesday night in Pittsburg.

Ponder (34-5) faces Pottsboro (16-17-1) on Thursday, as well, and the Tatum-Hughes Springs winner will meet either Ponder or Pottsboro in round three, the regional semifinals, at the beginning of the week.

In the win over Mineola, Kaysen Foster had 20 kills, 11 digs and two aces. Kamdyn Scott had 14 kills, 16 digs, three aces and three assists for the Lady Eagles. Taydem Barker had 40 assists, seven digs, two kills and two aces. Aundrea Bradley had six kills, three digs and two blocks. Karly Stroud had 25 digs. Kyndal Greenwood had seven digs and three aces; Taylor Jacobs had three kills, and Braylia Williams had two digs.

Gilmer: The Lady Buckeyes beat Lindale in four, 21-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-20, on Tuesday at Mineola High School.

Gilmer (23-16) moves on to the area round, where they’ll face Caddo Mills (29-12) Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at Sulphur Springs, ironically.

For Gilmer in the win over Lindale, Lacey Wilson went crazy – 26 kills, 11 digs, three aces, and a block in the victory. Livi Brown and Macy Stocks each had four kills – Stocks had two blocks and two digs, Brown two blocks, as well.

Also for the Lady Buckeyes, Alex Werbeck had 33 assists, 14 digs, three aces, and two kills; Brie Jones had 21 digs, three kills and an assist; and Alexis Kemp had 11 digs, two aces, a block and a kill.

White Oak: Also a winner in the first, or bi-district, round in the 3A playoffs: Tatum district rival White Oak, who beat Eustace in three sets, 25-11, 25-15, 25-21, Tuesday night in Tyler.

The Ladynecks (29-17) are moving on to the area round to face New Diana, who swept Atlanta on Monday night in Marshall, 25-19, 25-16, 27-25.

White Oak will face New Diana at Spring Hill in Longview on Thursday night at 6:30.

Against Eustace, White Oak got a good night from Addison McClanahan, no surprise – McClanahan had 18 kills and four digs. Alli Sims, White Oak’s setter and the current Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week, had 30 assists, three kills, three digs and two aces.

Also for White Oak, Andee Bridges had five kills, eight digs and two aces; London Bodovsky had four kills and two digs; Karsyn Edwards had nine digs and two assists; and Peyton Thompson had two digs.

West Rusk: White Oak, Tatum and West Rusk played each other back and forth all season, competing in the same district. Maybe it toughened the three of them up even more.

West Rusk also won its first-round game Monday night, beating Edgewood, 26-28, 25-17, 25-14, 25-23, in Hawkins.

Carly Buckner had 15 kills and 17 digs for the Lady Raiders (28-12). Bella Mata had 44 assists and 13 digs. Kamyah Lacy had 13 kills and two blocks. Irelind Hunt had nine kills. Hannah Haffner had eight, and Keke Murphy had 24 digs.

West Rusk is in the UIL 3A Division II playoffs, the smaller division and a new format this year for the UIL. The Lady Raiders will face DeKalb (22-16) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Pittsburg High School’s Jack Arnwine Gymnasium. DeKalb beat Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill in four, 26-24, 25-19, 13-25, 25-19.

Troup: The Troup Lady Tigers are still in the 3A playoffs, as well, also competing in Division II.

Troup (21-19) beat Grand Saline in five, the full distance, a 27-25, 21-25, 25-22, 18-25, 17-15 matchup Monday night in Hawkins, the second half of a doubleheader after West Rusk’s win over Edgewood.

Next up for Troup: an area (round two) matchup against Harmony (31-7) on Thursday night in Tyler at 7 p.m., the former John Tyler High.

Harmony swept Queen City in round one, 25-19, 25-18, 25-12.

For Troup against Grand Saline, Emory Cover had 15 kills, four aces, 21 digs, and six assists. Qhenja Jordan had 14 kills, 25 digs, 22 assists, and three aces.

Shiloh Shuder had 12 kills, six total blocks, 18 digs, and an ace. Paisley Skiller had four kills, two digs; Violet Eason had three kills, four total blocks, and two digs; Georgia Ray had 17 digs and two kills; and Chyler Graves had 15 assists, six digs and four aces.

Overton: Not everything went well for the ETBlitz.com-area teams.

The Overton Lady Mustangs ventured to Panola College for a UIL Class 2A match against Elysian Fields Monday night, but it was Elysian Fields that left with a win, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20.

That loss unfortunately ends Overton’s season with a 17-18 overall record.