In 2019, coach Brianne Groth and her Byron Nelson Bobcats flew 4,000 miles to the Ann Kang Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii and played a great tournament, but came up short in the championship match against Redondo Union from California. Later that season, they would win the Class 6A state championship.
Five years later and the program made the long journey back to the islands – got some redemption and made Texas history. The Bobcats got the best of Union this go around, dominating the championship 25-16, 25-17 on Saturday from Iolani High School.
Byron Nelson becomes the first school from Texas to win the tournament, which has been running since 1989 (there was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19).
AJ Seay (Rice commit) and Kylie Kleckner (Washington) were named to the all-tournament team. Sophomore setter Sophee Peterson was voted tournament MVP.
The Bobcats went 32-5 last season and reached the regional quarterfinals after going second in District 4-6A. They opened the 2024 season last Tuesday with a sweep at Flower Mound.
In Hawaii, the team started the tournament on Thursday with wins over Punahou, Clovis West and Orange Lutheran, winning the third and final set 15-13. On Friday, Byron lost to fellow DFW school Highland Park 17-25, 25-14, 13-25, but rebounded to beat Iolani and Palos Verdes. They would end pool with a 5-1 mark, one behind Mira Costa. Their 5-1 record was also tied for second overall out of the 16-team format.
Saturday morning started with the match of the week featuring Byron and 8x tourney champ plus back-to-back defending champ Mira Costa. After dropping the first set, Byron bounced back to take two and the match 22-25, 25-17, 15-13.
They defeated host school Iolani 25-13, 25-24 in the semifinals.
The Bobcats started the season 9-1 and will host the Northwest ISD Classic next weekend.
