Salado, the favorite in Class 4A Division II Region III, appears to be on a collision course with Wimberley for a state semifinal rematch in November.

Salado took care of business on Tuesday, defeating Gateway Prep in four sets in front of a packed house at Gateway Prep High School in Georgetown. The Eagles also defeated Burnet Saturday, which puts them in control of District 24-4A.

Around the Austin area

Austin High’s Riley Malloy continues to make her case for player of the year honors. The Maroons’ senior outside hitter had a hitting percentage of .667 Tuesday as the USC pledge slammed home 13 kills to lead Austin High to a sweep of Westlake. A hitting percentage is like a batting average in baseball and measures efficiency. A hitting percentage of .667 is rare at the high school level. The Maroons have their biggest challenge ahead of them as they host Lake Travis Friday. … Shaylie Schaefer put down 18 kills and 20 digs, while Addie Harrington added 15 kills  and Kingsley Minus put down 14 kills and had 20 digs to go with 31 assists as New Braunfels defeated Smithson Valley in four sets in District 26-5A action. …

Joy Udoye, Sibley Oster and Mya Cheatum had eight kills apiece to lift Cedar Park to a sweep of Hays in District 25-5A action. The Timberwolves will host Liberty Hill Friday. … Speaking of Liberty Hill, sophomore Hanna Griffin had 18 kills and Fallon Stroup had 11 to lift the Panthers to a sweep of Leander. … Grace McCluskey had 13 kills, 16 digs and 2.5 blocks to help Westwood to a sweep of Cedar Ridge. Dakota Hodge had 17 kills. The Warriors have a big matchup Friday as they host Stony Point. …

Rihanna Bryant put down 13 kills while Ava Jackson had 28 assists to lead Weiss to a 3-0 win over Hendrickson. … Lexi Rosenblatt had 11 kills with a .611 hitting percentage to go with seven digs, a block and seven assists to lead McCallum to a 3-0 win over Crockett. … Avery Ralston had 11 kills and a .455 hitting percentage to help Rouse to a 3-0 win over Glenn. … Setter Tilly Streeter dished 16 assists to help St. Andrews to a sweep of Hyde Park Tuesday.   

College roundup

Texas Longhorns: Cari Spears took home SEC player of the week and freshman of the week honors. Spears has led Texas to a 6-0 start to the season that includes five ranked wins over No. 12 Creighton, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 6 Stanford, No. 4 Louisville and No. 9 Arizona State. Texas knocked off its fifth ranked opponent this season, sweeping No. 9 Arizona State (25-18, 30-28, 25-15) Sunday in its first match at Gregory Gym. Spears registered a career-high 18 kills with a .382 hitting percentage, and Ella Swindle posted her first double-double of the season with 29 assists and 12 digs.

On Wednesday, Torrey Stafford and Abby Vander Wal combined for 16 kills to lead the Longhorns (6-0) past TCU in straight sets 25-12, 25-17, 25-18 in Gregory Gym. Stafford added 13 digs and three aces, while Swindle finished with 35 assists.

Texas State: The Bobcats went 1-2 at the Texas State Invitational last week with the only win coming against Incarnate word in the tournament finale. Nina Moorer and Caelyn Emmerling led the Bobcats with 10 kills each. The Bobcats (4-4) had 75 digs as a team with Brooke Bentke leading the team with 18.

UTSA: The Roadrunners (4-4) went 2-1 at the North Dakota Invitational last weeken. Ally Tribe had 22 kills in UTSA’s 3-1 win over Idaho and seven in a win over host North Dakota. Liberty Hill alum Taylor Gaines, who was American Conference freshman of the week last week, had  three straight matches with double-digit kills with 32 total for the tournament. Gaines is seond on the team in kills (79) and kills per set (2.8).

This week’s Power 5s

College

RK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	Texas	7-0	1
2	SMU	6-2	2
3	TCU	7-2	3
4	UTEP	9-1	4
5	Texas A&M	5-2	5

Others: Baylor (6-2), North Texas (7-2), Texas Tech (6-3), Houston (5-3)

Class 6A

RK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	Austin High	28-3	1
2	Lake Travis	25-8	2
3	Round Rock	27-8	3
4	Comal Canyon	21-12	NR
5	Burda Johnson	26-7	4

Others receiving votes: Westlake (22-11), Bowie (20-13), Vista Ridge (19-16)

Dropped out: Westlake

Class 5A

RK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	New Braunfels	31-5	1
2	Weiss	28-6	2
3	Liberty Hill	25-8	3
4	Comal Pieper	23-9	4
5	Cedar Park	22-12	5

Others receiving votes: McCallum (20-8), Bastrop (21-9), Georgetown (20-11), Smithson Valley (20-11)

Dropped out: None

Class 4A

RK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	Wimberley	30-5	1
2	Comal Davenport	24-6	2
3	Salado	21-12	3
4	Burnet	17-6	4
5	La Grange	19-12	5

Others receiving votes: Gateway Prep (16-6), Canyon Lake (16-10)

Dropped out: None

Sub-4A

RK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	St. Andrew’s	19-6	1
2	Johson City	22-8	2
3	Lexington	19-9	3
4	Fayetteville	19-10	4
5	St. Michael’s	23-9-1	NR

Others receiving votes: Round Rock Christian (23-11)  

Dropped out: Round Rock Christian