GAMES
RANKINGS
Second Baptist School Notebook: September serves as Strong Month for Eagles
HOUSTON – It seems like yesterday that the Second Baptist School teams were just gearing up for the fall seasons, but we just wrapped up the month of September, so it's time to take a look back at it.
We go sport by sport and tell you what has been happening with the Eagles' fall season thus far.
Cross Country
The Second Baptist School cross country teams competed in the Lutheran South Invitational back on September 11, and performed well.
Super sophomore Lauren Baker led the varsity women's team with a first-place finish in the 3200-meter race with a time of 13:03.79. This carries over the impressive performance from Baker in her freshman year where she took home the TAPPS 5A District 6 Championship in the 3200-meter race and also took second at the TAPPS State Cross Country meet in the two-mile run.
Beautiful morning in Houston for a Cross Country race at @lsaathl
Lauren Baker - 1st Varsity Women
CJ Hobbs - 3rd Varsity Men pic.twitter.com/2gbPz6aisP
— SecondBaptistSchoolAthletics (@SBS_Athletics) September 11, 2021
Senior Grace Lunsford finished tenth for the Eagles with a time of 14:39.77 and Angelique Hlavinka '24 took 26th overall with a time of 17:22.19.
On the men's side, CJ Hobbs '23 rolled in for a third-place finish with a time of 17:23.49. The junior was followed by senior Schulyer Clark in 25th with a time of 20:09.48 and Jack Going '24 in 30th posting a time of 20:41.02.
Junior Carson Bohannon (22:57.05 – 46th) and senior Bradley Taylor (23:13.35 – 48th) also had solid runs for the Eagles, who finished fifth overall as a team.
The following week, on September 18, Second Baptist School hosted the annual Fighting Eagles Cross Country meet on campus, which hosted 33 schools.
"The highlights of the event were the volunteer team and the fan base," Director of Athletics Mike Walker said. "We extend a huge thanks to the parents and volunteers for making this event a success, as well as athletic fellows Joanie Darnall and Garrett Hughes. In a notable win, our MS girls won second place overall.
Football
The Eagles have soared in the month of September, posting a perfect 4-0 record with wins over Houston Christian (41-7), Concordia Lutheran (48-13), Cypress Christian (49-14) and Port Lavaca Calhoun (23-19) to move to 4-1 on the year.
"Our kids have really bought into what we are doing," Second Baptist School head coach Terry Pirtle said. "But more importantly, they are bought into doing things for other people, not just themselves. It's not about the wins, but about becoming better teammates, better people, better fathers, better employers and employees one day as our kids get down the road."
CLICK HERE TO WATCH Coach's Corner With Coach Terry Pirtle
The Eagles offense has been led by Eli Smith '22, who has 599 yards and nine scores on 92 carries this season. Turner Murdock '24 has played well as the Eagles' signal-caller going 56 of 88 for 761 yards and 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Grayson Kim '22 leads all receivers with 274 yards and five scores on 15 grabs. Kim also became the all-time leader in games played at Second Baptist School last week playing in his 40th contest.
The Eagles are back on the field next week, October 8 to open district play against St. Joe's. The following week SBS celebrates Homecoming on October 15, when they will face The Woodlands Christian Academy, which will be featured to kick off the 2021 season of VYPE's Countdown to Kickoff Show starting an hour before kickoff on all of VYPE's social media platforms as well as VYPE.com. There will also be a 30-minute postgame show live from the field as well.
Volleyball
What a start it has been for Second Baptist School on the volleyball court under new SBS head coach Chandace Tryon.
After a 3-0 win over The Woodlands Christian Academy on September 30, the Eagles are now 21-6 on the season, which is an impressive start.
Varsity Volleyball: FINAL #SBSeagles travel to @twcasports and win 3-0.
Freshman W 2-0
JV W 2-1 pic.twitter.com/HmPQClc3Ue
— SecondBaptistSchoolAthletics (@SBS_Athletics) October 1, 2021
The group has been led in the early going by Madi Hobbs '25 (42 kills, 32 digs), Morgan Warren '24 (30 kills, 12 blocks), Emma Wentz '22 (26 kills), Julia Sauvageau '22 (74 digs) and Alexis Gill '22 (34 digs, 16 kills, nine aces).
CLICK HERE to learn more about New Second Baptist School Volleyball Coach Chandace Tryon.
Back on September 11, Second Baptist School competed in the FAST Private School Tournament, which took first in the Silver Bracket.
Since winning the final three matches of that tournament (all via sweeps), the Eagles are on a five-match winning streak and haven't lost a set in the current winning streak.
We look forward to watching the Eagles round out their fall season after such an impressive start!
TWEET OF THE MONTH!!
How many varsity athletes can you spot? 🧐
At SBS, you can do it all. Athletes sing as part of the choir at our home football games, showcasing the #SBSdifference. @SBS_Houston @SBS_Alumni @TappsFootball @TAPPSart @TAPPSchoir pic.twitter.com/JqoYwSuWPH
— SecondBaptistSchoolAthletics (@SBS_Athletics) September 10, 2021
THE SERVE: SBS Volleyball ready to make a run behind talented junior class
With a global pandemic bringing the nation's sports to a complete halt at one point, many didn't know how this fall would look.
Slowly but surely a sense of normalcy has returned. For Second Baptist School, that came on September 15, when the women's volleyball team hosted Emery/Weiner.
"I'm so thankful for the Second Baptist School administration and all the hard work they have put in so we can have our season and have school on campus this fall," Second Baptist School senior Bailey Ireland '21 said adding, "I'm really grateful."
The Eagles swept the Jags 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-22) for their first win of the season in September and concluded the first game played on the Second Baptist School campus since March.
"I'm very thankful that we are able to play," Second Baptist School volleyball coach Sue Berg said. "I really just wanted us to go out and play and have fun; coming out with a win was just icing on the cake for us."
When looking at this Eagles' volleyball team roster heading into the year, Berg didn't have the luxury of a large senior class to lean on. It is a 2021 group with two players.
There will be production and leadership from that group, but it is the Class of 2022 that dominates this roster.
"We are really cohesive. I have been with them since freshman year on varsity," Alexis Gill '22 said. "We are all working to help with leadership since we only have two seniors."
Led by first-team, all-district pick Julia Sauvageau '22 and second-teamer Gill '22 this junior class is loaded with talent, which is something Berg is not surprised about.
"The class of 2022 has always been a volleyball group," Berg said. "Seeing them grow up as kids, they've always enjoyed the game. Some play other sports but a lot of them do just play volleyball. They are really the core to what we've had the last couple of years on our team."
Last season, the Eagles finished third in district before making it a couple of rounds in the TAPPS 5A Playoffs, and there were lessons learned from it.
"I think we all learned how to work together and play as a team, because as things got harder through the year, we had to depend on each other," Sauvageau '22 said.
Berg, who has coached at Second Baptist School since 1992, has seen her fair share of teams make runs. Under her tutelage, the volleyball program has made nine state tourney appearances and won four state championships.
Coach Berg, as a member of the 1988 University of Texas volleyball national championship team, knows more than anyone, if you can get in, anything can happen.
"Our goal is to win district," Berg said about the expectations for the team. "Once you win district and get to the playoffs, really anything can happen. I really love to outsmart people as we are playing. I love the mental side of volleyball. There's always that skill side but it's the mental side I really enjoy."