From the hardwood to the gridiron and beyond, taking a look back and ahead at the San Antonio-area high school sports landscape:

By the numbers
6: Days until the start of the UIL softball playoffs. Bidistrict games/series can begin on April 27 and must be completed by April 29. The state tournament is May 30-June 3 at the University of Texas’ McCombs Field. O’Connor is the defending Class 6A state champion and D’Hanis is the reigning Class 1A winner.

4: Days until the UIL state tennis championships get underway in San Antonio. The Class 6A-5A first round and semifinal matches are April 25 at Northside Tennis Center, next to O’Connor High School. The opening two rounds of the 3A-4A and 1A-2A competitions will be contested at Annemarie Center (located next to Gustafson Stadium) and at the Blossom Tennis Center, respectively. The 4A-6A finals will be at Northside and the 1A-3A finals are at Blossom on April 26.

4: Area athletes named all-tournament at the UIL state soccer championships last week at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown. Smithson Valley’s Sabrina Taber and Wrilyn Shippey made the Class 5A squad and Boerne’s Kyle Combs and Madeline Davis earned spots on the 4A team. Taber, Combs and Davis are seniors and Shippey is a junior.

Boerne fell to Celina 2-0 in the state semifinals and Smithson Valley, making its debut at the state tournament, was nudged by Grapevine 2-1 in overtime in the 5A state semifinals. Celina and Grapevine both went on to capture state championships.

3: Area athletes chosen to Volleyball magazine’s Fab 50 squad, which recognizes the nation’s top 50 players in the Class of 2023. Cornerstone’s Taylor Anderson and Nayeli Gonzalez and Alamo Heights’ Hannah Whittingstall made the prestigious team. All three players have been named to multiple All-America teams since the conclusion of the 2022 season.

Anderson is a 6-foot-1 setter headed to Purdue. Gonzalez is a 6-2 outside hitter who signed with Iowa State, and Hannah Whittingstall is a 6-2 outside hitter/middle hitter who will play at SMU.

Area signings/commitments
Josslyn Abel, New Braunfels Canyon volleyball: Colorado Christian
Kalina Calvillo, Antonian volleyball: Troy (Ala.)
Rian Forestier, Brandeis basketball: Southern California
Lauren Frans, Cornerstone volleyball: Texas A&M International

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1