Leonard, Texas -- Volleyball fans got a chance to see two state-ranked volleyball teams with a combined 69 wins this season clash in a bi-district contest played Thursday night in Bonham.
The Chisum Lady Mustangs came into this contest ranked No. 3 in Class 3A. Chisum went 10-0 in district and compiled a 36-4 season record.
The Leonard Lady Tigers hold down the No. 20 spot in Class 3A and went 33-7 on the year. The Lady Tigers finished third in highly competitive District 11-3A.
This has been a season of remarkable achievements by Leonard. The Lady Tigers started the year with 27 wins against only two losses. This team played like it knew there was a ticket to the playoffs with their name on it and they went and got it. The 2025 Lady Tigers went into the playoffs with 33 wins, the most in school history. And the biggest achievement so far came Thursday night when Leonard upset No. 3 Chisum in four sets.
In the first set, Leonard hitters Leah Stoy, Riley Brown and Bella Neaville gave Leonard a 24-20 lead and a block by Neaville put a 25-20 win in the books.
Chisum had worked too hard to go away quietly and the Lady Mustangs pulled even with a 25-22 victory in the second set.
Leonard responded with a convincing 25-15 win in the third set. Ava Flowers slipped three aces through the Chisum defense and Madison Jones knocked down a pair of kills. The final point came on a kill by Stoy.
In the fourth set, Neaville had five quick kills to give her Lady Tigers a 12-10 advantage. Jones collected a kill and Stoy took over down the stretch with three clutch kills to give Leonard a 25-17 victory to seal the deal.
Bella Neaville and Leah Stoy combined to knock down 30 kills. Neaville slammed down 16 kills, Stoy finished with 14 kills, Madison Jones put down eight kills, Riley Brown had three kills, Ava Flowers tallied a pair of kills and Avery Ross had one kill.
Flowers handed out 43 assists and slipped a team-high four aces through the Chisum defense.
Stoy had three aces and Emma Houser contributed a pair of critical aces.
Olivia Aylor had 12 digs.
Brown led the front-line defense with two blocks and Neaville had a timely block to end the first set.
Leonard advances to take on Boyd in the area round.
photos by Allen Rich
additional photos pending
