After his team fell in the fourth round of last weekend’s Pearland tournament, a stormy Westlake coach Al Bennett had no desire to search for silver linings.

“We just didn’t play well, and there’s nothing else I can say,” he said. “We weren’t focused, we were sloppy, and we just didn’t fight hard enough.”

Westlake’s lone loss at the state’s largest tournament came against a surging Corpus Christi King team that eventually captured the first-place trophy. However, the manner of that defeat mattered more to Bennett than the opponent.

After a sluggish start in the first set, Westlake (24-2) roared to a lead of 23-16 behind the play of Cailin Bula (five kills) and Paige Caridi (four kills). King senior captain Dempsey Thornton, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, keyed a Mustang rally, and the Chaps never responded.

“We just didn’t have an answer for Thornton,” Bennett said.

The Chaps ended the match with just 18 kills and 13 errors, a far drop from their offensive production in early-round wins over Houston Memorial (25-18, 25-17), Hutto (25-11, 25-13) and Flower Mound (25-17, 25-11).

Westlake regained its momentum in the next match by rallying for a 22-25, 25-21, 28-26 win over Friendswood. Ella Praisner shook off her sore shoulder to garner a season-high 11 kills. Caridi added 10 kills in the contest, and Avery Edwards doled out 25 assists.

Bula hammered a dozen kills as the Chaps closed out the tournament with a 28-26, 25-17 win over Class 4A power Brenham. Middle blocker Hannah Baptiste had her most effective match of the tournament with seven kills on 10 swings, and Kenzie Hume snuffed three shots

“It was good to see us rebound from that King match and beat a couple of good teams, but we have some work to do,” Bennett said.

News and notes
Bula, a 6-foot-2-inch junior, has solidified her spot opposite Paige Caridi. She led the Chaps with 37 kills at Pearland. … Senior outside hitter Praisner played in all six matches and accumulated 27 kills on 52 swings for a hitting percentage of .404, which led all of Westlake’s outsides. … Libero Tessa Hunt had a team-best 57 digs at Pearland, while Kenzie Hume blocked a team-high 13 shots. … The Chaps beat host Round Rock in five sets in nondistrict action Aug. 24.