Ridge Point Fall 2023 Volleyball

Deb Mize, VYPEFortBend. com broadcaster Roger Smith, Wade Smith, and Ridge Point girls athletic co-ordinator Evelyn Torres. All three inductees were present for the HOF celebration inside the Ridge Point HS commons, and joining them in stepping to the mic during the program were KPRC-TV Channel 2’s Randy McIlvoy, Ridge Point Head Coach Lauryn Bailey, and the keynote speaker: Fran Flory. Flory is the winningest coach in the history of LSU volleyball, with 405 career match wins in 31 combined years of coaching (at LSU, Kentucky, Southeastern Louisiana and Wittenberg), and is herself an inductee to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Other Panther players nominated and considered for induction were (in alphabetical order): Nina Clair Jeter, Sydni Leonard, Keandra “Keke” McCardell, Nia McCardell, Britney Ong, Brooke Rutherford, Kenedi Rutherford, Vallen Vaughn and Haley Wilcox. Next year, the Hall of Fame Biggs, Sydnye Fields, Camryn Higginbotham,

varsity more than merely hungry to bring home the big prize. They’re ravenous. “I really have just one word that encompasses the goal that we’re trying to reach,” said Bailey. “And that word is redemption. It’s going to be our ‘hashtag’ for the upcoming season. It’s redemption for every playoff match we’ve lost, every heartbreaking loss we’ve had. “Typically, I let the seniors on the team choose the (upcoming year’s) hashtag. But this year, I’ve chosen ‘redemption.’ It’s been our motto all spring, ever since the Tompkins loss (Nov. 8). And knowing that we lost that (match), and we would’ve had a great chance of making the state run, (the objective is) redemption. As long as we have girls with a mind to make it to state, and to win there, it will always be the end goal.” FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM SCAN THE CODE

the Panthers reached the UIL Class 6A finals at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, losing in four games to Flower Mound. In 2019 and 2021 with Bailey as head coach, Ridge Point earned trips to Garland again as champions of Region III-6A, but each time lost agonizing 5-set state semifinal matches. Three trips to the pinnacle of UIL state volleyball in a 4-year span has Bailey and the players who’ll make up the 2023 Ridge Point

competition is sure to be just as stiff and the evaluations just as laborious to see who makes up the 2nd class of inductees. With 12 varsity seasons in the history books, Ridge Point volleyball has parlayed its individual excellence into consistent team success, coming just a few point here and there from a state title. In 2018, with Lori McLaughlin as their coach,

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