Ballinger Adds to Historic Volleyball Season With Comeback Win Over Coleman

BALLINGER, TX — The Ballinger High School volleyball team is heading to the playoffs for the first time since 1970, and the Lady Cats ended their regular season in style Tuesday with a comeback win over Coleman.

After dropping the second and third sets, Ballinger regrouped and rallied back for an exciting 25-17, 16-25, 16-25, 25-16, 15-11 victory in its last appearance in front of its home fans this year.

Ballinger revived its volleyball program in 2021 following a 51-year absence, and the Lady Cats have put together an impressive rebuilding project that has finally paid off with a playoff trip.

They have an overall record of 22-13 and tied with Miles for second place in District 5-2A. The Lady Cats are set to open the playoffs against Colorado City at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in Bronte.

“This group of girls is pretty special,” said Ballinger head coach Robynn Jones, who earned her 300th career win Tuesday. “For them to start the program, they wanted it from a young age, and they had to truly fight to get the program started again here at Ballinger. So for them to kind of see it from its start, to being all it could be and all they dreamed of is huge.

“It was hard to get volleyball started, but I think they’ve showed that it needs to stay.”

Jones is in her second year with Ballinger after previous stints at Concho Valley schools like Water Valley, Bronte and Wall.

The Lady Cats went 16-18 last year and tied for last place in district, but they returned a strong group of girls from that team.

Ballinger earned wins over state-ranked Sonora and Water Valley early this season, and they took No. 20-ranked Christoval to five sets in district play.

Jones said her five seniors — Kyndal Rollwitz, Kyndall Weathers, Jolee Battle, Ava Aguilera and Deesa Drennan — have been critical in leading the way.

Rollwitz is a do-it-all player who leads the team in kills, digs and aces. Weathers has anchored the back row with her defense, particularly on serve-receive. Battle leads the team's defense at the net.

Aguilera, along with junior Gabriella Escobar, dishes out most of the team's assists.

“We thought we had a chance, but we weren’t sure if it was just a dream or something we could truly do,” Jones said. “Making the playoffs is great, but could we do it in a way that makes our community stand up and notice us? And I think we have. We’ve had some hills and valleys in our games and our season, but they’ve never given up and they’ve always fought through it and stayed together.”

Ballinger also has a bright future with a promising group of younger players like junior Kennedee Franke (third  in kills) and sophomores Addisyn Hill (first in blocks/second in kills) and Allie Clemens (third in digs), along wth 5-foot-11 freshman Logan Conner and junior Xavionna Johnson.

Ballinger will head into the Class 2A Division I playoffs as the top seed, while Coleman will be the No. 2 seed. District champion Christoval will be the top seed in the 2A Division II bracket, while Miles will be the No. 2 seed.

Jones likes her team’s chances of making some noise in the playoffs.

“I feel like we can handle adversity, and that’s big. The playoffs will be something emotional, but if we can make it through Senior Night in a five-setter against a district rival the way we just did, I think we’re gonna be OK,” Jones said. “We’re pretty confident with where we’re at with our skills right now, so we’re looking to see how far we can go. We’re pretty excited.”

Ballinger will play a warm-up match at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Veribest, the No 9-ranked team in Class 1A.