All Saints Defeats Whitehouse Before District Play

TYLER – Tyler All Saints only needed one more.

One more point would put away Whitehouse and send the Lady Trojans home with a victory Tuesday night. But Whitehouse was rallying. Its players were stomping on the gym’s hardwood floors. Its few students in attendance were getting louder.

So coach Bryan Winegeart called a timeout.

Moments later, that final point came. All Saints won the last set 25-22 to get the win. The Lady Trojans lost the first set 25-18, but finished with three straight wins to take the match.

“It was just one of those moments where I needed them to step up and put a ball away,” Winegeart said. “Whitehouse has a fantastic team. Huge blocks on the other side. That’s something we don’t see a whole lot. Fighting to break through that was tough.”

Winegeart looked to one of his six seniors, Hanna Waits. She had come through numerous times already for the Lady Trojans.

“I need you to put it away,” he said.

Fortunately, she didn’t need to. A Whitehouse (20-8) error ended the game before any of the All Saints players had a chance to.

Waits finished the evening with 10 kills, three blocks and three aces to lead the Lady Trojans (17-5-2).

“She has become one of the emotional leaders of our team,” Winegeart said. “The other person is Maddie Varga. She was getting some balls up tonight that were amazing.”

Winegeart said he was happy to see his team get a victory against a team like Whitehouse. The Lady Wildcats are a good team, and should give his team something to feel good about heading into district play. The Lady Trojans’ next matchup is Sept. 21 at Tyler Bishop Gorman.

“I think it gives the kids confidence,” Hanan said. “No matter what we come up through in our district and in TAPPS, we have it in us to win big games. I think you can always go back to a moment like this in your season and say, ‘Look what y’all did here. Let’s go get it done.’”