Bowie is peaking at just the right time as 2026 high school volleyball playoffs approach

Bowie volleyball is peaking at the right time of the season, coming off wins over the top two teams in District 26-6A last week.

The Bulldogs clinched a playoff spot as one of two Division I qualifiers after beating Dripping Springs and Johnson; Dripping Springs and Austin High will be 26-6A's Division II playoff teams.

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"We are playing our best volleyball of the season right now, which is exactly where we want to be heading into the final week of district play and playoffs," Bowie coach Ashlea McGill said. "It's important that we carry the momentum from our two monumental wins this week into the matches ahead and continue building on the confidence we've gained as a team."

The Bulldogs beat district-leading Dripping Springs 25-22, 25-22, 13-25, 25-22 on Friday behind Jazzlyn Hepburn's 19 digs, eight kills and three blocks. Ella McCoy added eight more kills and four blocks and Audrey Savasky chipped in seven kills. Addison Fey had a monster match: 10 blocks. For Dripping Springs, Emily Varnell finished with 15 kills and Reece Roegelein added nine. Avery King had 12 digs and three aces. Last Tuesday, Bowie swept Johnson 25-20, 25-21, 25-23. Hepburn had 13 kills, Fey had five blocks, Lyla Rosas had 22 digs and Mya Adkins notched 17 assists.

Last Tuesday, by the way, was a historic night for Bowie volleyball. The Bulldogs managed a win in every program match against the Jaguars - Bowie's JV team, Flex swept and freshmen team each dropped their opening sets before winning the next two to take their matches in three.

Around Class 6A

District 26-6A: In other district action, Austin High swept Del Valle 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 and Johnson swept Akins. Bowie hosts Austin High on Tuesday night and needs to beat the Maroons to force a tie for the top seeding spot with Johnson. Dripping Springs will advance as the DII top seed and Austin High will be the second seed regardless of the Maroons' outcome against Bowie.

District 25-6A:   The district held form last week as the top three teams - each ranked in the state's top 15 poll - won. Round Rock swept Westwood behind Kerington Thornton's 16 kills and Brooklyn Bradley's 14 kills, Lake Travis swept Stony Point behind Gentry Barker and Maggie Wheeler and Westlake swept McNeil behind Clayton Kelly and Geralynn Byers-Veal, who had 11 kills each. Fourteen different Chaparrals recorded at least one dig in the 25-11, 25-7, 25-9 win over McNeil. 

The district's playoff spots are secured: Westlake is the DII top seed and Stony Point is the second seed. Westlake plays at Lake Travis on Friday; if the Cavs defend their home court, the 25-6A championship will be tied between Lake Travis and Westlake - with Round Rock being a third shared champion if it beats Stony Point on Tuesday. (The Cavs, Chaps and Dragons have each won on their home court in the five district matches between them.)

District 24-6A:   The district race comes down to the final week for playoff seeding. Rouse still leads the district while Vandegrift, Cedar Park and Vista Ridge have secured the playoff berths. Rouse can clinch the title with a win over Vista Ridge on Tuesday or Hutto on Friday. ... Vandegrift notched a big win over Cedar Park last Friday behind Naina Rao's 20 kills in the 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 17-15 win.

Around Class 5A

Liberty Hill swept Belton to improve to 39-5 on the season as the No. 2 team in the Texas Girls Coaches Association's Class 5A state poll. The Panthers got 20 kills by Bry Tuley, 10 from Hannah Griffin and 34 assists from Ryann Mendoza. Liberty Hill is 11-0 in district play and is 33-0 in district sets competed. The Panthers have won 14 straight matches and have lost only one set in the past two months (to No. 3 state-ranked Georgetown on Sept. 1).

Georgetown is 12-0 in district play as the Eagles have won 36 of 38 sets competed. On Friday, Georgetown swept Pflugerville, Weiss swept Elgin and Glenn swept Pflugerville. Weiss, Glenn and Hendrickson will all advance to the playoffs. Based on UIL enrollment numbers, Georgetown and Hendrickson will be DI and Weiss and Glenn will be DII.

Anderson, Bastrop, McCallum and LASA will make the playoffs in District 24-5A; Anderson and McCallum will be DI and the Bears and Raptors will be DII.  Anderson swept Navarro as Chloe Frizzell had seven kills and three aces, and McCallum bested LASA in four sets.

Hello, playoffs

This is the final week of the regular season, with bi-district playoff matches beginning Oct. 26. The top four teams from each district advance to the postseason, with the two schools with the largest enrollments playing in the Division I bracket and the two smaller schools going into the Division II field. The state finals are the week before Thanksgiving in Garland.

Tuesday's top matches

Austin High at Bowie, 6:30 p.m.

Davenport at Wimberley, 6:30 p.m.

Round Rock at Stony Point, 6:30 p.m.

Vista Ridge at Rouse, 6:30 p.m.

McCallum at Ann Richards School, 7:30 p.m.

This article originally published at Bowie is peaking at just the right time as 2026 high school volleyball playoffs approach.