The Kountze Lionettes found themselves in the path of the Wimberley Lady Texan express Friday afternoon and it wasn't pretty. Kountze, which fielded an athletic team that had compiled a 27-6 record , was completely overpowered by the big and talented Lady Texans.

With Jesi Grisham in the driver's seat, Wimberey completely dominated Kountze to improve to 37-2 on the season and advance to Saturday's championship match.

As they have all season, Courtney McCrocklin, Abbi Meyer, Colleen Westfall and Leah Goldstein led an attack that was so clean and precise that there weren't a lot of big statistical numbers. McCrocklin had 7 kills to lead Wimberley while Westfall and Meyer added 5 each. Wimberley had only four service errors and Kountze, led by Katy Etheridge and Felicia Carey with 4 kills each, was repeatedly blocked or dug by the Lady Texans. They scored their only point on a Wimberley ball handling error.

"We knew they had good athletes," said Wimberley coach Lee Grisham. "You can never predict something like this. When you get on a roll like we did and they get rattled in a setting like this...."

"They had great athletes," added Grisham. "I saw one of their players who got her shoulders above the net. If they could have gotten some momentum and made more plays, it could have been a different story. We kept the ball in play and kept pressing. That was a difference. When we are able to get a team down, we've been able close out the match all season."

"It was one of Westfall's best offensive productions. I think earlier in the season she may have lost a little confidence, but we had confidence in her today," Grisham said of the 5'10" senior who hit .833 for the match.

Jesi Grisham said a lot of the credit should go toWimberley's schedule, which included wins over some the state's top 4A and 5A teams. "Our schedule this year prepared us for anything," she said.

Statistical leaders

Wimberley
Kills - Courtney McCrocklin 7, Colleen Westfall and Abbi Meyer 5, Leah Goldstein 4, Jesi Grisham 3
Assists - Jesi Grisham 13
Blocks - Ashley Leach and Abbi Meyer 1A
Aces - Leah Goldstein, Jesi Grisham and Colleen Westfall 2; Ashley Leach and Courtney McCrocklin 1
Digs - Jesi Grisham and Ashley Leach 7

Kountze
Kills - Katy Etheridge and Felicia Carey 4, Terrea Powell 2, Tiffany McCray 1
Assists - Talon Morgan 8
Aces - none