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Cypress Ranch senior outside hitter and Texas A&M commit Bianna Muoneke.
Legacy lasts forever for Mustangs star Muoneke
Not even a week into the high school volleyball season, Bianna Muoneke continues to etch her name into Cypress Ranch volleyball history.
After setting program records for kills in a game, aces in a season and season hitting percentage last year, the senior outside hitter and Texas A&M commit now holds the Mustangs’ record for career kills with 1,146 and counting as of Monday, Aug. 15.
“It was definitely a goal of mine,” said Muoneke, who entered this season with 1,000 kills in two seasons of varsity play. “Ever since I got to watch the varsity girls play and all the records that were up, my goal was that has to be me. I started working towards it.”
Muoneke surpassed Shelby Fanning’s career kills mark of 1,045 set in 2014.
“I feel it’s a real turning point in my Cy Ranch career,” Muoneke said. “My last year, breaking records. It felt really good to do.”
So far this season, through nine games for 8-1 Cy Ranch, Muoneke is averaging 6.6 kills per set on a .397 hitting percentage and .483 kill percentage. Muoneke said she has matured as a hitter and feels “better and stronger,” attacking the ball with more aggression.
“Last year, I felt like I was a great hitter, but now I feel I’ve really elevated my game to the next level,” she said. “A big part of that is holding myself to a higher standard. If I hit a .300 (percentage) in a game, in the back of my mind I’m feeling I could’ve hit a .500. That’s been a huge part of my game.”
Muoneke said she feels a responsibility to be great for her teammates. She said the Mustangs’ team chemistry this season is the best she’s had in her volleyball career.
“School ball is a place where I get to be myself and play with my friends,” Muoneke said. “It’s high school. There’s no pressure. I’m just going out there and playing for my team and playing for my city.”
And more records.
Assuming health and a long season, Muoneke will break the career ace record (she sits at 102; the record is 130) and season kill record (she missed it by seven kills last year despite missing a tournament because of a visit to A&M) this year. That would give her all the hitting records at Cy Ranch.
It would also award vindication. More substantial reward after finishing her last club season No. 1 in kills in Houston Juniors Volleyball history and No. 2 in hitting percentage (behind USC’s Skylar Fields).
“For the longest time, I measured my self-worth by rankings and lists,” Muoneke said. “I realized those rankings and lists don’t matter. There are players whose numbers I’ve completely obliterated in club and high school who still made those lists. So, my standard is these career marks. Being No. 1 in kills in HJV history. The records at Cy Ranch. Those are the lists for me.
“What I’m doing at Cy Ranch and HJV, I’m making history. Lists are temporary but legacy lasts forever.”
Cy-Fair has won five of its last six games, scoring 72 runs and allowing just 16 over that span, after routing Lamar, 14-1, in the Class 6A bi-district playoff Friday at Mayde Creek High School.
Young and thriving, Cy-Fair moves on in postseason
HOUSTON—With 11 underclassmen on its roster, including five freshmen, Cy-Fair’s softball team is flooded with inexperienced, raw talent. But teams would be unwise to underestimate these Bobcats.
Cy-Fair is playing beyond its years as of late. The Bobcats, the No. 3 seed out of District 17-6A, took down Lamar, the No. 2 seed out of 18-6A, in impressive fashion in their Class 6A bi-district playoff Friday, 14-1, in five innings at Mayde Creek High School.
The Bobcats are peaking at the right time. They have won five of their last six games, with a run differential of plus-56. (72 to 16).
“We’ve got good energy,” coach Marissa Stevens said. “The girls really believe in each other. They have a lot of confidence in what each individual player can do. When we unite that, as a unit, it just works.”
Cy-Fair (16-11-1) was explosive against Lamar (13-9) from the start, scoring four runs in the first inning, buoyed by a two-run double from sophomore Alexis Moreno. The Bobcats scored 10 more runs over the fourth and fifth innings.
Freshman Paige Elrod had an RBI double. Freshman Isabella Rios had a two-run double. Senior Lily Forbes had a two-run single.
In the fifth, sophomore Averie Morris drilled a three-run shot over the right center field fence for her second homer of the season.
“Waiting on that outside pitch and driving it to the right side was huge,” Morris said. “We did really well with that tonight.”
Overall, the Bobcats had 12 hits and struck out just once in 33 at-bats. Morris, Elrod, Forbes, Moreno and sophomore Yadi Ortiz all had multiple hits.
“I’m proud of the way we used the whole field when we hit,” Stevens said. “Everybody knows that outside pitch is difficult to hit, and the fact that we were able to score up on it was big-time for us.”
Defensively, the Bobcats were perhaps even more remarkable.
Freshman Carey Granger threw well in 3 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on five hits and walking none. Sophomore Dalanee Ekster pitched admirably in relief, allowing a harmless RBI single from Aleah Zarzosa in the fifth.
But it was the defense behind them that stole the show. Both Granger and Ekster pitched to contact; Granger had the only strikeout of a Texans batter.
Ortiz was terrific behind the plate, quick and decisive. Morris was solid at shortstop. Right fielder Elrod made a gorgeous diving snare of a fly ball to end the Texans’ threat in the fourth and strand two runners in scoring position.
“We always make the plays that come to us, and then we back it up with our offense,” Morris said.
Intangibly, leadership has been central to Cy-Fair’s success, thanks to its five seniors: Forbes, Kaeli Lynn, Alexa Castillo, Sandy Rosas-Penaloza and Jessica Spencer.
The “Fab Five,” Stevens’ nickname for her veterans, has held younger players accountable, expediting growth and maturity. They’ve set the tone and made it easier for the youth to manifest.
“These seniors set the tone. They have put their hearts and souls into this season,” Stevens said. “Every girl, every underclassman, is playing for them. It’s so much fun to watch.”
Playing together, and for each other, has raised the young club’s ceiling this season.
“We work well as a team,” Morris said. “I feel like every single person puts in what they need to do. Game one of the season, everyone was really tense and it was very individual. As we developed, we started making the routine plays defensively, and on offense we started doing our jobs to get runners in. It’s really been a team effort.”