Texas High All-Tournament selections Isabella Cherry and Valeria Perez.

Tyler Legacy remained undefeated on the young season and captured a tournament title along the way.

The Lady Raiders swept Texas High (25-21, 25-19) to win the Tyler ISD Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Tyler Legacy High School.

“It’s great to see these kids battle,” Legacy head coach Bryan Winegeart said. “We somehow found a way to make every game close this tournament. When we started on Thursday, I wasn’t sure this was a possibility. And they’ve improved that much in three days that they were able to become tournament champions, and that’s a credit to these kids.”

Legacy opened the day with a 25-23, 25-23 win over Texarkana Pleasant Grove.

The Lady Raiders got down 6-1 early in the first set before taking a 10-7 lead. Pleasant Grove went up 15-11, before Legacy eventually went ahead 21–20 on a Mallory Theford kill.

Legacy got up 9-0 in the second set behind the serving of Kayda Kinch. Legacy led 13-3 and 21-13, but Pleasant Grove battled back. The Lady Hawks cut the score to 22-20 and 24-23 before Legacy scored the match-winning point.

The Lady Raiders defeated Paris 25-22, 26-24 to advance to the championship match.

In the championship match against Texas High, it was a tightly contested match. Legacy led 14-13 late in the first set before scoring three straight points to lead 17-13 after a kill by Ionna Jones. With the score at 22-19, Shelby Huntsberger got a kill and an ace to make the score 24-19. Texas High trimmed the score to 24-21 before Anna Gates had a diving dig that landed on the other side of the net for the set-winning point.

With Texas High leading 10-7 in the second set, Legacy went on an 8-1 run behind the serving of Avery Armstrong. Kinch had multiple kills in the run, which was started as what looked like miscommunication between Gates and Adele McCown, but they were able to hit the ball before it hit the ground and it caught the Lady Tigers off guard as it landed on the floor on the other side of the net.

With Legacy leading 19-17, the Lady Raiders went on a 4-0 run. The Lady Raiders led 24-19 before Jones delivered the championship-winning kill on an assist by Armstrong.

Kinch and Gates were named to the All-Tournament Team.

“It feels really good to win this tournament, especially since I’m new here,” Kinch said. “It’s been a great start to the season. I have never played on this good of a team. Our quick offense has been our weapon, and we have a really good serve/receive.”

Kinch, a senior, joined the Lady Raiders this season from Grass Valley, California.

Other All-Tournament selections for the Gold bracket were Paris’ Macy McAmis, Carthage’s Sadie Smith and Texas High’s Valeria Perez and Isabella Cherry.

Paris won the third-place match over Carthage (16-25, 25-22, 15-13).

Other Gold Bracket results on Saturday were Texas High def. Joshua 25-19, 25-21; Texas High def. Carthage 26-24,19-25, 15-11; Paris def. Cedar Hill 25-21, 16-25, 15-13; Carthage def. Longview 25-13, 25-16; Cedar Hill def. Pleasant Grove 25-21, 25-23; Joshua def. Longview 25-10, 25-13; Pleasant Grove def. Longview 25-19, 25-20; and Joshua def. Cedar Hill 26-24, 25-14.

Bryan Rudder won the Silver Bracket against Bullard (25-18, 25-17). Other Silver Bracket results on Saturday were Bullard def. Rusk 25-23, 25-21; Van def. Lindale 25-14, 25-20; Bullard def. Gladewater25-7, 25-8; Rudder def. Van 25-15, 25-16; Van def. Gladewater 25-18, 25-13; Gladewater def. Mabank 25-17, 25-16; Bryan Rudder def. Marshall 25-19, 25-23; Mabank def. Rusk 25-12, 25-20; Marshall def. Lindale 25-23, 25-23; and Lindale def. Mabank 25-23, 25-23; and Marshall def. Rusk 25-22, 23-25, 15-7.

The Silver Bracket All-Tournament Team was Bryan Rudder’s Asani McGee and Neeley Rutledge, Bullard’s Emily Bochow and Olivia Anderson, Van’s Abby Clyburn and Gladewater’s Alexis Boyd.

Bronze Bracket results on Saturday were Mineola def. All Saints 25-21, 18-25, 15-10; Tyler High def. New Boston 25-21, 10-25, 15-9; New Boston def. All Saints 29-27,15-25, 15-12; and Mineola def. Tyler High 21-25, 25-16, 25-23.

Legacy (9-0) will play Pine Tree at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Longview.

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