Westlake Picayune

By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 
With the 2008 fall season now a memory, several questions linger as the football and volleyball coaches begin thinking of next year.

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Most valuable player: 
• Sara Shaw, OH, Westlake: The junior set school records while leading district in kills.
Coach of the year: 
• Al Bennett, Westlake: Veteran guided young team to district crown, state title match. 
First team:  
• S: Elly Barrett, 12, 6-0, Westlake
   State’s leader in assists also had 108 kills, 49 blocks.
• OH: Sara Shaw, 11, [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 
It’s not easy to set records at a school like Westlake, where impressive volleyball marks stand alongside championship trophies.
But that’s what Sara Shaw did during a remarkable junior season that ended in the Class 5A state championship game and earned her the Westlake Picayune’s District 25-5A Most Valuable Player award.

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor
In a most unlikely of rematches, Westlake’s volleyball team will again attempt to dethrone defending state champion Amarillo after both teams emerged from Friday’s Class 5A semifinals with wins Friday at San Marcos’ Strahan Coliseum.
Last season, Amarillo swept the Chaps to claim its second consecutive 5A title. The Golden Sandstorm will [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor
You’ve heard of Westlake volleyball player Sara Shaw, right? A Southern Cal commit as a junior. More than five kills a game. On pace to break all kinds of records at Westlake.
And you know Elly Barrett, correct? The state’s best setter. A Cal commit who will pester Pac 10 defenses next [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 
SAN ANTONIO – It’s not often that Westlake enters a match as an underdog, but the Chaps played the role with aplomb in the Class 5A Region IV championship. 
In a contest befitting its ramifications, Westlake knocked off top-ranked San Antonio Reagan 25-19, 22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 18-16 at St. Mary’s University. The Chaps [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports editor
Three days after surviving a scintillating five-game contest in the Class 5A Region IV quarterfinals against No. 5 San Antonio Churchill, the Chaps will travel to a familiar destination.
Westlake makes its eighth consecutive appearance in a regional volleyball tournament this weekend at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. The Chaps face [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 
It didn’t take long during Westlake’s district-clinching win against Bowie last week to see what makes the Chaps particularly difficult to defend.
After the Bulldogs opened the match with a service ace, Westlake senior setter Elly Barrett took a pass from Olivia Caridi and quickly scanned the court. She saw Bowie’s blockers drifted [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor
A violation of UIL rules by a regional rival did no favors for Westlake.
The Chaps will open the playoffs Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Lehman High School in Hays County against traditionally tough New Braunfels, a battle-tested team that earned another playoff spot despite moving into a brutal District 26-5A during [...]

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By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor
PFLUGERVILLE – Although the Chaps had to work a little longer than usual, their final District 25-5A contest may have served as an ideal primer for the playoffs.
Westlake underwent a taut third while securing a 25-15, 25-15, 27-29, 25-21 before a raucous partisan crowd Tuesday at Pflugerville High School.

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