By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

PFLUGERVILLE – Although the Chaps had to work a little longer than usual, their final District 25-5A contest may have served as an ideal primer for the playoffs.

Westlake underwent a taut third while securing a 25-15, 25-15, 27-29, 25-21 before a raucous partisan crowd Tuesday at Pflugerville High School. The win marked just the third time that the Chaps (34-7 overall, 14-0 in District 25-5A) went to four games since tournament play ended almost two months ago, and Westlake coach Al Bennett said that the experience could prove beneficial in the postseason. Ironically, Pflugerville (24-12, 9-5) defeated the Chaps 29-27 in the third game of a Westlake win a month ago

“It was a good environment,” he said. “I would have liked to win game three, especially because we had some match serves. But we were able to put some people in at pressure points to see how they responded.

“Some times it worked, sometimes it didn’t. We found out some things about our team, though.”

That third game had a tension that belied Westlake’s easy wins in the first two frames. Both teams exchanged leads late in the game, but Pflugerville’s thumpers on the front row had seven kills after 20 to help the Panthers pull out the win.

“They played pretty well,” Westlake setter Elly Barrett said. “They’ve improved since last time we played them. It was good to have a challenging match before the playoffs.”

Pflugerville couldn’t match the Chaps’ level of play for the entire match, however. Barrett had 47 assists to spearhead a Westlake attack that rolled up 56 kills compared to 12 hitting errors.

Abby Howden had a match-high 19 kills and provided much-need balance as Pflugerville focused on slowing teammate Sara Shaw.

“Abby was super and took advantage of the mismatches she had,” Bennett said. “And Elly did a good job of finding her. Abby became our go-to hitter tonight.”

Shaw spent her time on the front row shadowed by Nneka Enemkpali, a 6-foot-3-inch sophomore who is one of the most highly regarded basketball players in the state for her class. Shaw still had 18 kills on 37 swings and contributed 17 digs.

Middle blocker Ella Praisner had five kills for Westlake, Jennifer Schuler filled in on the left side when Shaw rotated to the back row and added seven kills.