Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians came away from their first tournament at Brock as champions on Saturday.
The Lady Indians went 4-1 overall, overcoming the opening game loss to win the rest of its games.
Nocona first played tournament host Brock to start off the tournament. It was formatted so games went to the standard first to win three sets instead of the shorter one most tournaments used to keep matches quick.
It went to five sets, with the Lady Indians up 2-1 at one point, but lost the last two sets to lose the match 3-2.
Nocona next played private school North Central Texas Academy. The Lady Indians won in straight sets 3-0, though two of the sets were won by the narrowest of margins.
The Lady Indians won the next the game playing Aledo’s JV team. The match was won in straight sets, with only the set going down to the wire.
Nocona played Olney for a chance to play in the championship game. The Lady Indians routed the Lady Cubs in straight sets with Olney failing to score in double-digits in any of the three sets.
In the championship game, Nocona played familiar 3A foe Boyd. Despite losing the first set handily, the Lady Indians took the next three tightly played sets to win the match 3-1 and the tournament title.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a tough first tournament at Chico last week, but recovered during bracket play to take home some hardware.
The Lady Panthers won the silver bracket championship, recovering from a 1-2 start in pool play before winning three straight matches.
Saint Jo played exclusively bigger schools in its pool. The Lady Panthers lost a close three-set match against 3A Jacksboro and lost against 4A Graham’s JV team in straight sets.
Saint Jo took out 2A Tioga in straight sets that were both closely played to gain some momentum from the day.
Being in the silver bracket, the Lady Panthers had to play two future district opponents which is never ideal even if the results won’t count towards later standings.
Saint Jo beat Forestburg and Prairie Valley in straight sets each on its way to the championship game against 2A Valley View. The first two sets went down to the wire and the team’s split the results forcing a third game. There, the Lady Panthers ran away with it to win the silver bracket championship.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs had an up and down first tournament at Chico last week.
The Lady Bulldogs went 2-3 overall as the young team continues to grow together.
Prairie Valley lost to Collinsville and Harrold in straight sets during pool play, but the Lady Bulldogs did beat a Bryson team in a tense three-set match that exorcised some demons with the two program’s history in the recent past.
Playing in the silver bracket, Prairie Valley won another tense three-set match against Forth Worth Southwest to set up an early season test against a familiar opponent.
District favorite Saint Jo was next and the programs had four straight years of meeting in the playoffs in 2018-2021. Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, it was not a close match as the Lady Panthers won in straight sets.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears came up second at their first tournament in Benjamin last week.
The Lady Bears went 3-1, only losing in the championship match against the tournament host.
Before that Gold-Burg won in straight sets against Trent, Crowell and Seymour with only one set ending up being close in score.
Against the Lady Mustangs, the Lady Bears had a team that was close in talent to challenge them. Gold-Burg won the first set, but could not close out the second set. In the third and final set it went down to the wire, but Benjamin came out ahead in the end.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns played in the Chico tournament last week.
The Lady Horns struggled, going 0-4 overall at the tournament.
Forestburg lost to tournament host Chico, Bowie’s JV team and Fort Worth Southwest before losing to district rival Saint Jo.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles played another tough team on Friday, traveling to Graford.
The Lady Rabbits beat the Lady Eagles in straight sets, though despite the result Bellevue is showing signs of improvement with every match the team plays.
The first set was the closest with Graford winning 25-13. The next two sets did not have quite as much good stuff for the Lady Eagles. The Lady Rabbits won 25-7 and 25-4 in the final two sets.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.