Volleyball: Clear Brook gets early shot at Friendswood

You can call it the unofficial high school volleyball championship of Friendswood when Class 5A Clear Brook hosts Class 4A Friendswood in the crosstown rivals' annual non-district meeting.

Dating back to 2007 (past four seasons), Friendswood has won five in a row against Clear Brook, including two victories that came in 2008.

ABOUT THE GAME

• Matchup: Friendswood at Clear Brook

• When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16

• Where: Clear Brook High School

• What's at stake: The unofficial volleyball championship of Friendswood

• Friendswood players to watch: OH Jill Bergeson, MB Annie Mitchem, MB Shannon Ellis

• Clear Brook players to watch: OH Anita Permenter, S-RS Crystal Young, OH Darian Lockwood, RS-DS Desiree Scott, DS Allie Bevolo

TEAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Friendswood: The Lady Mustangs downed Clear Brook 25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20 last season after sweeping the Lady Wolverines 29-27, 25-11, 25-19 in 2009. Friendswood recorded four-game triumphs in 2008 (twice) and 2007 ... The Lady Mustangs are under the direction of first-year head coach Kelly Beck, who played for Friendswood (graduated in 2004 as Kelly Stanton) and at Texas A&M ... Friendswood was No. 1 in last week's Chronicle Class 4A/others preseason rankings, and had Mitchem on the All-Great Houston first team and Bergeson on the second team ... The Lady Mustangs also compete in the Byron Nelson Volleyball Classic Friday and Saturday, Aug. 19-20, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before playing their first District 24-4A match at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 at Texas City.

• Clear Brook: The Lady Wolverines have reached the playoff in all six seasons under coach Meredith Thompson (since 2005) in an always-competitive District 24-5A lineup, and last year, Clear Brook closed at 31-18 and recorded a postseason win against Fort Bend Austin ... Along with seniors Permenter, Young, Lockwood, Scott and Bevolo, Clear Brook's early roster also includes seniors Meagan Baldwin and Alexa Schnoor, junior Kayla Hernandez, Danielle Sellari and Courtney Tee, and sophomores Jasmine Juliette and Chelsea Sincox ... The Lady Wolverines play in the Spring Branch ISD Tournament Thursday through Friday, Aug. 18-20, and are in action at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19 at Dobie.