What UIL realignment means to Panhandle-area volleyball

Yesterday's UIL district realignments won't mean much for most of the area's elite volleyball teams in terms of who goes to the postseason.

Amarillo High and Tascosa will advance out of the truncated 2-5A, which is now includes just five teams (AHS, THS and the three Lubbock schools). Randall, Hereford and Dumas are still locks to advance out of the new 3-4A.

But with Pampa exiting that district and dropping to 1-3A, and Frenship and Plainview moving into 3-4A, the fourth spot will be a brawl between those two southern teams and Canyon -- who has beaten out Pampa for the final playoff spot twice in as many years by virtue of a play-in match.

This works out well for Pampa, which is now a more-than-safe bet to make it to the playoffs as a 3A team.

The Lady Harvesters have been oh-so-close in the toughest 4A district in the state for two years running. That, coupled with the fact that three of the four teams in the small District 1-3A (with Dalhar, Borger and Perryton) make it to the playoffs, almost guarantees Pampa a slot.

Dalhart will still win the district, but Perryton shouldn't put up much of a fight in the race to the bottom.


One thing that will be better for the 5A teams is travel. AHS and Tascosa no longer have to drive anywhere south of Lubbock, making their district matches much less of a burden -- especially on Tuesdays.

I talked with AHS coach Jan Barker before the realignment, and she was ... lets say displeased ... with the thought of having to travel as far south as San Angelo during district for two more years.

The 4A teams, on the other hand, have more travel to deal with. The district now stretches from Dumas to Frenship, about 190 miles and three hours of travel. That's still nothing compared to going from Amarillo to San Angelo, but it's nearly twice the length of the former district (Dumas to Hereford).

In all, realignment wasn't anything shocking to the Panhandle's incredible volleyball landscape. It should be just as fun and competitive the next two years as it was the last two (or 10).