The New Braunfels Canyon volleyball team walked away from the Northside ISD Sports Gym on Friday night, pleased with the outcome but not as much with the manner in which it was achieved.

The Cougarettes understood their intensity to rise and their level of play had to be more efficient. The stakes were too high. The opponent that stood in the path of a season-long aspiration becoming reality had been a perplexing albatross.

“We knew what we were going to be up against,” Canyon senior outside hitter Kyla Malone said. “We were like, ‘OK, we really need to pick it up. We cannot play like the way we played yesterday. We cannot act the way we acted yesterday.’ We really need to pick everything up — our play, our energy, everything. We did.”

Facing the team that ended its season in the same round a year earlier, Canyon grabbed control from the start and never relented and rolled past Dripping Springs 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 Saturday in the Region IV-5A final. It was a rematch of the 2020 regional final in which Dripping Springs prevailed in four sets.

The Cougarettes (43-8) advanced to the state tournament for the 12th time. They advanced to this stage six times under legendary coach Donna Boehle (1974, ’75, ’83, ’86, ’89, ’96), five times under current coach Heather Sanders (1999, 2001, 2007, 2015, 2021) and once under coach Renata Goebel (1998).

“It was really nice to come back and beat them, and for us to go to state this time,” Canyon junior defensive specialist Isabell Woo said.

Canyon and Dripping Springs (37-16) squared off for the seventh time over the past two seasons, including the fourth this year. The teams split the previous six matches, but it was the Tigers that had prevailed when it mattered most and captured the 2020 regional title. The Cougarettes made sure there was no repeat for Dripping Springs, which was in the regional final for the fourth straight year and sixth time in the past eight seasons.

Junior outside hitter Maya Jones paced a balanced attack with a team-high 13 kills. Malone added 12 kills and McKenzie Woitena chipped in 10 as Canyon had a .313 hitting percentage.

“We’ve played them so many times throughout this season, so you kind of learn their defense works, the way their blockers are, where their passers are, and you know where to put the ball so you make your hitters successful,” said Canyon sophomore setter Megan Hawkins, who had 37 assists to go along with nine digs and six kills.

Jones found her spots throughout. She recorded her 13 kills in only 20 swings, committing two hitting errors for a .550 hitting clip. Jones had Canyon’s first three kills in both the opening and final sets.

“I was really pumped,” Jones said. “I was like, ‘If we win this match, we go to state.’ We’ve played them so many times, so I think that really drove us to have confidence.”

The belief spread to all facets of the Cougarettes’ game. Woo, Victoria Fontenot and Alyssa Koehl patrol the back row on defense, combining for 34 digs and making things difficult for Dripping Springs’ attack. Woo had 20 digs, Koehl nine and Fontenot added five. Haley Therien provided a strong presence at the net with 2 1/2 blocks.

“I have always thought we were pretty evenly matched skill-wise,” Malone said of Canyon and Dripping Springs, District 26-5A rivals. “I always just thought (it would come down to) who was going to show up, and really who wanted it more, and who came in with more energy. I think it was us, completely. We started off stronger, we finished stronger. We were just a stronger team.”

It was evident. The Cougarettes grabbed command in each set with early spurts and held Dripping Springs at bay. The Tigers led 4-3 in the opening set but didn’t earn their next lead until 2-1 in the final frame. In the decisive final stanza, Canyon led 21-14 before Dripping Springs mounted a late surge to get within 22-17 on kill from senior middle blocker Madi Lund. Following a timeout, though, Woitena had back-to-back kills to give Canyon six match points.

The Cougarettes only needed two, earning a trip to the state tournament on a powerful kill from junior middle blocker Courtney Pope.

Region IV-6A: At the Alamo Convocation Center, Jalyn Gibson, Carlee Pharris and Emma Halstead each recorded double-doubles as Brandeis swept Austin Vandegrift 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 and earned its first trip to the UIL state tournament.

The Broncos (45-2) had lost to Reagan in previous regional-final appearances in 2016 and 2020, but they wouldn’t be denied this time.

Gibson notched 17 kills and 13 digs, Halstead had 14 kills — including the match-clincher — 10 digs and three aces and Pharris totaled 31 assists, 10 digs and two aces. Sophomore Austin Smoak had six kills and two blocks, senior outside hitter Leila Smalls had five kills and senior libero Dani Gray contributed 12 digs.

Brandeis used decisive runs in all three sets to prevail. The Broncos used a 10-0 spurt in the third set to snap an 11-11 tie, an early 8-3 charge to grab control of the second set and a 5-0 rally to pull away from a 17-17 tie in the opening frame.

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