Wylie High School volleyball and team tennis continued motoring on the highway of excellence this week.

Both teams won all their matches as district competition draws closer.

Cross country continued to show improvement.

The downer for the weekend was Wylie’s 13-7 football loss to Brownwood. The Bulldogs almost pulled off the win in the final minute but a fourth-down pass to the end zone was incomplete.

Wylie travels Friday to Lubbock to face Lubbock Monterey (1-0) at 7 p.m. at Lowery Field.

VOLLEYBALL ON FIRE; FIRST HOME MATCHES THIS WEEK
At Amarillo, Coach Shay Cox’s volleyball team went 4-0 at the Randall Showcase to run their record to 21-4. Wylie took down Shallowater, Lubbock Liberty, San Angelo Central, and Amarillo Tascosa at the Panhandle event. Wylie needed five sets to top Liberty, which is 15-6 on the season. Liberty lost 3-2 to Wylie and then 3-1 to Canyon, a team that Wylie beat earlier this season.

The strong tournament followed an impressive 3-0 win over Byron Nelson High School. Byron Nelson won the Class 6A Division I state championship last fall with a 41-0 record and was ranked in the 6A top 10.

Cox said the opponent was missing its starting setter but her team played up to its potential in the win. That included roaring back early from nine points down to win. That, she said, took the fire out of Byron Nelson, which has lost just three matches - to 6A top-ranked Allen and to Eagle Mountain.

In a statewide power poll, Byron Nelson is No. 3 while Wylie comes at No. 13. The bad news is that Wylie nemesis Argyle is No. 11. Argyle, 38-3 last year, has knocked the Bulldogs out of the Class 5A playoffs in the third round for the past two years.

The volleyball team plays its first home match - yes, after 25 matches on the road - at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Midland Christian. Abilene Christian is the opponent Thursday.

TENNIS AVENGES 2025 LOSS TO EP CORONADO
The Bulldogs tennis team went 4-0 in the Abilene ISD tournament, taking wins over 6A El Paso Coronado, San Angelo Central, Vernon, and Lubbock High. The biggest win was over Coronado, which beat Wylie 12-7 a year ago. This time, the Bulldogs won 12-7. The anticipated girls singles match between Bulldogs standout Hope Willis and Makenzie Baptist of Coronado did not happen due to Baptist’s injury.

Next up for Wylie is the beginning of district play. WHS is host to Wichita Falls Legacy, which was ranked No. 22 in preseason Class 5A rankings.

A match to watch is No. 1 boys doubles, where James McCall and Witten Sides will face a stout opponent. Wylie lost this match last year, won at district, then lost at regionals.

Wylie also lost at No. 2 boys doubles to Legacy a year ago.

“Their boys are very similar to ours on paper,” coach Adam Cherry said. “We should have a lot of competitive boys matches. Last year, we lost two close matches at 1 and 2 boys doubles. Hoping to flip that script this year.”

Cherry said the Bulldogs should dominate on the girls’ side against Legacy.

The coach and his team have their sights set on another strong run in the playoffs but must continue to stay sharp in 4-5A play. Abilene High also made the 5A top 25.

Those two schools tangle Sept. 22 on the AHS courts.

Wylie overall is 13-1, losing only 10-9 to 6A No. 8 Coppell.

BULLDOG BOYS 2ND AT BROWNWOOD MEET
At Brownwood, the Wylie boys finished second at the Brownwood Invitational at Riverside Park. The Bulldogs trailed only 6A San Angelo Central and were ahead of Jim Ned.

Central took the first four places and totaled just 19 points. Wylie, by contrast, totaled 101 points. The lower the total, the better the performance. A total of 29 schools competed.

“I was very pleased with the boys’ team,” coach Jody Harvey said. “They continue to run well as a group and continue to run PRs. They do a great job of competing each week in practice and at meets.”

Wylie’s first runner in, Elijah Davis, finished 11th in 16:34.88 over the 3-mile course.

The Bulldogs had all five athletes in the top 34, with Luke Cardenas next in with a time of 16:52.01, good for 17th place.

The girls’ team was fifth overall, competing on a two-mile course against 31 other schools. As a 5A school, the Bulldogs most often run 3-mile races.

Sophomore Amari Dudley continued her early season success with a fifth-place finish in 12:22.85.

It was her third meet to be a top-5 runner.

“She is showing her maturity with consistency,” Harvey said.

Freshman Allysin Schulle, just called up to the varsity, was next to the line in 13:18.42, good for 25th place.

Overall, Harvey said his sophomore runners are key to this season’s upswing.

“I am very excited to see where we can be when the district meet comes around,” he said.

Wylie teams take a break, running next at Sherrod Park in northeast Abilene in the Abilene ISD Invitational on Sept. 12.