Hockaday Regains SPC Volleyball Crown
Hockaday never lost a set against an SPC volleyball opponent all season, so it’s fitting that streak continued all the way through the championship match.
The Daisies swept top seed Houston Episcopal on Saturday in Fort Worth to claim the SPC 4A title and complete a perfect season against conference competition.
It was the second SPC crown in the past three years for Hockaday, which was swept by Episcopal for the championship a year ago.
Hockaday finished the season by winning 14 of its last 15 matches. The Daisies were 15-2 against in-state private school opponents — falling only to Plano Prestonwood and Bishop Lynch.
Earlier in the tournament, Hockaday rolled past The Woodlands Cooper in the quarterfinals and Houston St. John’s in the semifinals.
The Daisies (29-13) were battle-tested by an early-season schedule of public school powerhouses, along with a tournament in southern California in late September. They earned victories over The Colony, Plano, Flower Mound Marcus, Wylie, Frisco Reedy, Frisco Independence, and Denton Braswell.
Elsewhere at the SPC fall championships, St. Mark’s fell just short in its quest to return to the top spot in boys volleyball. The Lions fell to top-seeded Episcopal in five sets in the title match.
Episcopal was the only conference opponent to beat the Lions during the regular season, doing so twice. However, both teams were unbeaten in SPC divisional play.
In cross country, Hockaday tied for the runner-up spot behind defending champion Episcopal in the team standings among 4A girls programs. Margaret Thompson won an individual bronze medal, completing the 5-kilometer course at Athletic Performance Ranch in 19 minutes, 36 seconds. Her teammate, Jordan Lacsamana, came in about 12 seconds behind her in seventh.
St. Mark’s was fifth in the 4A boys event led by senior Raja Mehendale, who placed 10th overall. Episcopal School of Dallas junior Charlotte Traylor finished in the top 10 in the 3A girls race.
No Dallas-area football teams qualified for SPC championship games in football. In the 4A division, Episcopal knocked off defending champion Houston Kinkaid 35-25. And in 3A, Fort Worth Trinity Valley avenged a regular-season loss to Houston Christian with a 30-27 triumph in the title-game rematch.
