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The Elgin Wildcat varsity volleyball team snapped a losing streak with a 3-2 road victory over the Pflugerville Connally Cougars Sept. 18.
With the win, Elgin improves to 1-3 in district play. Pflugerville entered the match attempting to shake a 3-0 blowout by the Georgetown Eagles earlier in the week, but head coach Hope Pawlik said the girls came ready with a strong game plan.
“We had two days of maximizing our own lineup in a way where we could be in the position to win against Connally,” Pawlik said.
The Cougars took the first two sets 26-24 and 25-19, but Elgin rallied after halftime and came back late in the third set for a 25-23 win. The fourth saw strong defensive work on either end, with Elgin ultimately taking the set 25-20.
A lineup change at the start of the third set proved to be the turning point.
“It changed our dynamic … It put us in a position where we had hitters and places that we didn’t normally have, which proved to help,” Pawlik said.
In the tie-breaking set, Elgin scraped past Connally 15-12 and claimed their third consecutive meeting against the Cougars in two years.
Team leaders include Elgin freshman outside hitter Audrey Borboa, who sits atop the squad with 11 kills, seven serving aces and an average of 1.8 aces per set. Senior setter and team captain Katelyn Anderson has collected 13 digs and three aces throughout the four district games played.
For Connally, senior setter Caroline Benge totaled 13 kills and 18 digs across the five sets, while junior middle hitter Zilda Kouaye added 10 kills, two digs and one block. The Cougars now hold a 14-18 overall record and a steady 2-2 mark for district play.
Elgin sits at seventh in district rankings and will look to keep the wins rolling Sept. 22 when they host Weiss at 6:30 p.m.
“Weiss has a little bit more height, but our game plan conversations are similar,” Pawlik said. “We have a lot of conversations about staying confident, staying consistent and controlling the momentum.”
“It put us in a position where we had hitters and places that we didn’t normally have, which proved to help.”
— Hope Pawlik, Elgin volleyball head coach
