Throughout the early part of a high school volleyball career that was curtailed by injuries, O’Connor senior outside hitter Mackenzie Mahr still experienced the joys of success.

Mahr was a freshman in 2018 when the Panthers made the second of back-to-back trips to the UIL Class 6A state tournament. In 2019, a bid for a third straight Region IV-6A title was halted in the second round by a five-set loss to Austin Lake Travis. Mahr missed the 2018 season with an arm injury and the 2019 campaign with a knee injury.
Finally healthy a year ago, Mahr was instrumental in O’Connor winning its first 22 matches, without losing a set, and advancing to the Region IV-6A semifinals. The Panthers lost in four sets to eventual regional champion Reagan.

“I was so used to everything just going so perfectly,” Mahr said.

What was seamless a year ago turned to inconsistency in the early stages of this season, a byproduct of losing five starters to graduation and re-calibrating with inexperienced and young players. Patience became paramount.

In the end, the Panthers’ winding road of a season arrived at a familiar destination — the Region IV-6A tournament. It is their fifth trip to this round in the past seven seasons. They also made it this far in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

O’Connor (32-12) plays Austin Vandegrift (38-9) in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at the Alamo Convocation Center. In the first match of a doubleheader, Brandeis (43-2) faces Harlan (29-15) at 5 p.m.

A year ago, Brandeis topped Harlan in this round. The rematch means that for the second year in a row, Northside ISD schools comprise three of the final four teams still standing in Region IV-6A.

“It’s definitely was a lot different than last year,” said Mahr, a Tulane signee, of her team’s journey to regionals. “I’m not saying we didn’t have to work as hard (in 2020), but getting to the regional tournament was a little easier than it was this year. But we’ve been able to do it and overcome, which is going to help us in the long run in this regional tournament when playing harder teams, with bigger blocks, and just being able to go to those fourth and fifth sets.”

The payoff is already being felt. At one juncture this season, O’Connor nearly had as many losses as wins. But the team stayed the course until it was molded it into a winning form.

“Last year, we were supposed to go to state and everything, and that obviously didn’t end up happening,” Mahr said. “We had a lot to prove, and we’ve been able to do it every single time.”

The latest proving ground came Tuesday in Corpus Christi, where the Panthers took on Laredo United in a third-round match. United defeated O’Connor 25-15, 26-24 at the Northside tournament on Aug. 14 and appeared as if it would come out on top a second time when it won the third set 30-28 to take a 2-1 advantage.

Paced by Mahr, who had 23 kills and two aces, the Panthers won the fourth set to tie the match and force a decisive fifth-set tiebreaker. O’Connor jumped out to an early three-point advantage in the fifth and went on to register a 20-25, 25-20, 28-30, 25-20, 15-12 victory.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty worried just because we were down 2-1 and that’s kind of a hard thing to come back from,” Mahr said. “In the back of my mind, I knew this wasn’t going to be my last high school volleyball game. We were expecting a tough match. Even through the adversity, we’re able to come out on top, because we wanted it more than them. That’s what makes it so fun watching our team. If you look at where we started the beginning of the season and now, it’s a completely different team. We’re more comfortable with each other.”

Will there be a Part IV?
With each returning the core of their rosters from teams that played for the Region IV-5A title a year ago, most figured New Braunfels Canyon and Dripping Springs would again clash for regional supremacy.

The pieces appear to be falling into place. The District 26-5A foes are both one win away from facing off for a trip to the UIL state tournament. Both, though, can’t overlook opponents that are also used to playing at this time of the season.

Dripping Springs faces Flour Bluff (34-5) at 5 p.m. in the regional semifinals at Northside ISD Sports Gym. Canyon takes on Gregory-Portland (40-8) at 7 p.m. Flour Bluff is in the regional semifinals for the fourth straight season. Gregory-Portland is in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the past five seasons and the first since 2019, when it was perhaps the favorite but fell to Dripping Springs in a five-set thriller.

Canyon and Dripping Springs have already met three times this season, and two of the contests were classics.
Dripping Springs prevailed 27-25, 24-26, 28-26 when the squads met at the Fraulein Volleyfest in New Braunfels on Aug. 21. Ten days later, Canyon rolled to a 25-15, 25-21, 28-26 triumph in the teams’ district opener. Dripping Springs outlasted Canyon 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 29-31, 15-12 in the second round of district play on Oct. 1.

A chance for a major statement
From the largest and more established programs to those seeking a breakthrough, this weekend is setting up to be a prime opportunity for area teams on the TAPPS landscape.

Nine schools are playing for berths into the TAPPS state tournament, with two assured of a spot because of head-to-head matchups.

Antonian and Incarnate Word each faces tough tests in TAPPS 6a regional finals, with Antonian taking on Tomball Concordia Lutheran at 1 p.m. Saturday in Flatonia and Incarnate Word tangling with Houston St. Agnes at 1 p.m. Saturday in Victoria. St. Agnes won its 14th state crown in 2019 and was the runner-up a year ago. Tomball Concordia Lutheran, which has advanced to the past two state tournaments, features Division I signees Sophia Keene (Baylor), Sydney Whitfield (Liberty) and Addy Polk (Saint Louis).

In TAPPS 4A, Holy Cross and San Antonio Lutheran play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Saint Mary’s Hall, while Schertz John Paul II faces Cypress Christian at 7 p.m. Saturday in Giddings. In 3A, Keystone meets Rosehill Christian at 6 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Bracken Christian and Shiner St. Paul square off at 6 p.m. Friday at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin in 2A, while San Antonio Atonement and Fredericksburg Heritage at 6 p.m. Friday at Boerne Geneva in 1A.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1