Marble Falls volleyball wins silver bracket at Austin ISD’s Jason Landers Tourney
CAPTION: Junior setter Caydence Bielfeldt (left) and sophomore libero Ariella Ruiz with their plaques after being named to the Jason Landers all-tournament team. Courtesy photo
The Marble Falls High School volleyball team won the silver bracket of the Jason Landers Tournament hosted by the Austin Independent School District Aug. 13-15.
In all, the Lady Mustangs (6-3) went 5-3 at the tournament, which capped the first week of play.
“I think that they performed very well,” head coach Zoey Beard-Hanrahan said. “Even those (Class) 5A and 6A teams were assuming we were 5A or 6A because we were playing at such a high level, and so I was very pleased by that and walking away with first place in silver bracket is nothing too bad. I saw some really amazing teams, and my girls just showed up, minimized errors and outplayed some of the teams that we played, so I couldn’t be more proud.”
The Lady Mustangs defeated Austin LBJ 25-12, 25-12 and Austin Navarro 25-9, 25-13 after losing to Austin Bowie 9-25, 16-25 on the first day and lost to Austin McCallum 19-25, 14-25 and Austin High 18-25, 15-25 but beat Manor New Tech 25-14, 25-18 to advance to the silver bracket.
During bracket play, Marble Falls defeated Pflugerville Connally, 25-15, 25-22 and San Antonio Marshall 25-14, 25-18 for the championship.
The first match of the tournament was against Bowie on the Lady Dawgs’ court and Beard-Hanrahan said Bowie “was a hard match and they have some very quality players. (Head coach Ashlea McGill) said she is carrying 14 seniors and every single one of those seniors play year around, so that’s high level right there. Still, I think that we showed up and competed and gave them a run for their money, so that was a big one.”
She noted that Austin High, which played for the 2025 Class 6A Division II state title, was very complimentary of the Lady Mustangs and how well they played. Beard-Hanrahan replied that Class 4A, of which Marble Falls is a member, “has some really high competition, especially in our district.”
Two Lady Mustangs, junior setter Caydence Bielfeldt and sophomore libero Ariella Ruiz, were named to the all-tournament team. Both are in their first year on the varsity.
While the coach was pleased with her team’s performance, she believes the Lady Mustangs will only get better the more time they spend on the court.
“I think we’re still just working on that team chemistry,” she said. “There’s so many new elements. Last year, I was handed a program full of older girls, and the team chemistry already seemed to be there, because not only did they love each other off the court but on the court, they communicated really well. And so just different elements, new kids and kids that are moving up — all those things — and it’s going to take a second to get that team chemistry exactly where we want it, but I don’t think it’s far.”
Marble Falls is bracing for another big week of play beginning with a road trip to Universal City Randolph (5-3) Tuesday, Aug. 18, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6 p.m.
Then the Lady Mustangs host their second Hill Country Takeover tournament that begins with them playing in back-to-back matches beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21. Other teams include Brenham, Blanco, Fredericksburg, San Marcos, Thrall and Texas Lions, a homeschool team.
