The Prowler volleyball team headed to the 48th Annual Monahans Volleyball Tournament to conclude their first week of the season on Aug. 12-13. Fort Stockton finished the two-day event with a 3-3 record and a consolation championship in the silver bracket. On Friday, the Prowlers tallied a 1-2 recorded before rallying in bracket play on Saturday with a 2-1 mark. Fort Stockton earned wins against Midland Legacy JV, Big Spring, and Fabens.

The Prowlers fell in a three-set battle against district foe Pecos, as well as the El Paso Hanks and Odessa Academy. The first game of the tournament went to three sets, but the Prowlers prevailed against Midland Legacy JV (25-20, 17-25, 25-15.)

Amaya Urias tallied a team-high eight kills and five blocks in the match while fellow senior Eliana Mata finished four aces and 12 assists – both team-high marks.

Aryanna Gonzalez led the Prowlers in digs (18), as she did all tournament, and Ivanna Ortiz recorded 13 digs.

In the second game, the Prowlers fell to Odessa Compass Academy 25-22, 25-23.

On offense, Fort Stockton was led by Sophia Hernandez and Jocelynn Arcides, who tallied five kills and four kills respectively.

Urias showed her presence at the net with three blocks and Ortiz added two.

Gonzalez tallied 18 digs as the team’s libero. The El Paso Hanks were the last matchup of pool play for the Prowlers on Friday.

The team struggled to find their groove and fell 25-- 17, 25-12. Ortiz led the team in kills with four, Gonzalez had 10 digs, and Urias finished with three blocks and a pair of kills. The Prowlers came into bracket play on Aug. 13 with a matchup against Pecos to get the day started. Fort Stockton claimed a victory in a nail-biting first set but were convincingly defeated in the final two sets (24-26, 25-16, 25-14).

Next up, Fort Stockton claimed a victory against Big Spring (27-25, 25-18) and closed the tournament with a win in a highly contested match against Fabens (25-23 and 25-23) Pioneer Athlete of the Week, Gonzalez, finished day two with a team-best 46 digs.

Mata proved to have the most well-rounded performance of day two with a team-best assist mark (29) and kills (23), tied for the highest aces (4), and the second-highest dig total (21).

Urias led the Prowlers with six blocks and Ortiz had a strong showing in her own right, recording 25 digs, six kills, four aces, three blocks, and two assists on Saturday.

Fort Stockton head volleyball coach Gabrielle Harral thought her team showed potential to have sustained success down the road, but knows there is plenty of work ahead to get to where they need to be.

“It was tough to lose to Pecos, especially since they are in our district. We came back and actually showed up to play the rest of the day. We have a lot of very talented, all around athletes this year. I am excited to see these girls continue to grow and play better volleyball each and every week,” she said. “We are looking forward to the competition that we will face in San Angelo because we know that in order to compete in our district, we need to see some better volleyball.”

Fort Stockton’s record sits at 3-4 heading into Nita Vonnoy Tournament on Aug. 19-20.

Win streak increases to four games

Momentum is building within the Prowlers volleyball program in the early stages of the 2022 season. Fort Stockton secured a pair of wins on Aug. 16 in Marfa in a triangular, defeating the Lady Shorthorns and Fort Hancock.

The Prowlers downed Fort Hancock 25-11, 25-14.

Mata commanded her offense with 16 assists, six kills, five digs and one ace. Offensively, the Prowlers were led by Amaya Urias and Sophie Hernandez, who each tallied five kills apiece. Aryanna Gonzalez held down the back row with 13 digs and a seasonhigh five aces.

In the second matchup, the Prowlers came out victorious against Marfa 25-19, 26-24.

The offense was run through Ivanna Ortiz, who had a season-best 13 assists.

Fort Stockton spread out their offensive attack in the match as four Prowlers had at least four kills: Mata (9), Hernandez (5), Kathryn Mendoza (4) and Ortiz (4).

Once again leading the charge on defense, Gonzalez recorded 17 digs.