For the first time in at least 20 years, Brownwood will be the site of a high school volleyball tournament, as the Heart of Texas tournament will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Brownwood Coliseum and Brownwood High School’s Warren Gym.
The Brownwood Lady Lions, Early Lady Horns and Bangs Lady Dragons are among the 12 teams competing in three varsity pools Thursday and Friday. All those games will take place at the Coliseum. Junior varsity action is slated for the high school both Thursday and Friday.
“We wanted to host our own tournament, so Bangs and I got together and decided we were going to do something different this year,” said Lady Lions second-year head coach Cheyanne Lovelady. “We’re trying it out and have 12 teams signed up for varsity. We hope to see it grow. We decided on this a little late in the game so we didn’t get it out to as many teams as we’d like to. But I’m really excited about it and I think there’s going to be a good turnout.”
Based on the pool play performances, teams will be sorted into a gold bracket – for first- and second-place teams – or a silver bracket – for third- and fourth-place teams – for Saturday action. The gold bracket will be played at the Coliseum and the silver bracket games will be held at the high school.
All three Brown County teams are entering the tournament fresh off victories as the Lady Lions (2-5) swept Lampasas on the road Tuesday, the Lady Horns (3-4) picked up a four-set win at Ballinger, and the Lady Dragons (4-4) downed Brady straight sets in their home opener.
Brownwood and Early are in the same pool and face off in the first tournament game at 8 a.m. Thursday in the Coliseum. The Lady Lions rallied to defeat the Lady Horns in five sets in the season opener back on Aug. 13.
Bangs, meanwhile, doesn’t take part in pool play competition until Friday, with its first contest at 9 a.m. a rematch of Tuesday night’s home triumph over Brady.
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Heart of Texas Volleyball Tournament
(all pool games at the Brownwood Coliseum)
POOL A
Thursday, Aug. 22
Brownwood vs. Early, 8 a.m.
Abilene TLCA vs. Wylie JV, 9 a.m.
Brownwood vs. Abilene TLCA, 10 a.m.
Early vs. Wylie JV, 11 a.m.
Brownwood vs. Wyile JV, Noon
Early vs. Abilene TLCA, 1 p.m.
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POOL B
Friday, Aug. 23
Bangs vs. Brady, 9 a.m.
Brownwood JV vs. Fort Worth Covenant, 10 a.m.
Bangs vs. Fort Worth Covenant, 11 a.m.
Brownwood JV vs. Brady, Noon
Bangs vs. Brownwood JV, 1 p.m.
Brady vs. Fort Worth Covenant, 2 p.m.
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POOL C
Thursday, 22
Coleman vs. Comanche, 2 p.m.
Snyder vs. Colorado City, 3 p.m.
Coleman vs. Snyder, 4 p.m.
Comanche vs. Colorado City, 5 p.m.
Coleman vs. Colorado City, 6 p.m.
Comanche vs. Snyder, 7 p.m.
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GOLD BRACKET
Saturday, Aug. 24
First and Second Place Pool Teams at the Brownwood Coliseum
Game 1: Pool B 3rd vs. Pool C 4th 8 a.m.
Game 2: Pool A 4th vs. Pool B 4th, 9 a.m.
Game 3: Pool A 3rd vs. Game 1 winner, 10 a.m.
Game 4: Pool C 3rd vs. Game 2 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 1 p.m. (Third Place)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 2 p.m. (Championship)
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SILVER BRACKET
Saturday, Aug. 24
Third and Fourth Place Pool Teams at Brownwood High School
Game 1: Pool B 1st vs. Pool C 2nd, 8 a.m.
Game 2: Pool A 2nd vs. Pool B 2nd, 9 a.m.
Game 3: Pool A 1st vs. Game 1 winner, 10 a.m.
Game 4: Pool C 1st vs. Game 2 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 1 p.m. (Third Place)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 2 p.m. (Championship)