Flower Mound Jaguars named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Flower Mound (Texas) Jaguars have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its ninth year honoring volleyball.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For volleyball, only 10 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 20,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Jaguars ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Ridge Point 24-26, 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 in the UIL Class 6A state championship contest on Saturday, November 17 marked the completion of an incredible 43-7 season — and earned Flower Mound an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

After dropping the first set, Flower Mound hacked its way through three tough sets to claim its first state volleyball title at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. The Jaguars fell behind 21-14 in the championship match's opening set, before rallying, but falling short 26-24. Jamie Siegel's club carried that newfound momentum into the next three sets.



Flower Mound broke open a tight second set, winning 25-21 when the Jaguars scored the final four points. Flower Mound rallied in the third set as well. Ridge Point had scored four straight points to tie the set at 24-24 when Sarah Martinez's bump hit the net and dropped to the floor to put the Jaguars up 25-24. Hailey Hutchings and Emily Merrick then teamed up to block Skylar Fields slap, giving the champions a 2-1 advantage in sets. Gabby White's kill broke a 21-21 tie in the fourth set and Angelique Cyr's kill put the champions up 24-21. A Ridge Point kill and hitting error produced the match's final points.

Kaylee Cox and Abby Butler led the Jaguar attack with 18 and 13 kills respectively, while Reagan Hooper launched a team-high 26 set assists. Caroline Dykes added 17 set assists and Martinez led the Flower Mound defense with 22 digs. Cox and Cyr dug out 19 balls each, while Hutchings was credited with a team-high four blocks.

Flower Mound opened postseason play with a 25-17, 25-21, 27-25 win over Guyer before eliminating Mansfield 25-19, 25-23, 25-22. Then, following an 18-25, 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13 triumph over Byron Nelson, Flower Mound punched its ticket to the Regional Final with a 30-28, 25-23, 30-32, 25-20 marathon win over Coronado. The Jaguars kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 22-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-11 victory over Carroll before bumping O'Connor from state championship contention with a 25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-14 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Ridge Point.

Siegel's club opened the season with a 25-9, 25-22, 25-23 sweep of Colleyville Heritage. Then, following a 25-16, 25-9 win over Fort Bend Dulles, Flower Mound upended Jenks (OK) 25-17, 25-17 to start the year 3-0. The Jaguars lost just seven times in 50 matches and won 117 of the 149 sets they played in. Flower Mound swept 28 opponents and allowed just nine foes to take two sets or more in a match.

Having won their final 17 matches of the year, the Jaguars set themselves up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only is Flower Mound the No. 2 team in MaxPreps' Region I Section Rankings, the Jaguars are the best team in MaxPreps' Texas Division 6A Rankings. Siegel's club is the second best team in all of Texas, ranked No. 15 in MaxPreps' National Rankings and played its way into MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll at No. 19!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Flower Mound Jaguars an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium for a winter sports assembly as we celebrate with the girls volleyball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, February 1 at 2:45 p.m.



For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.