SportzBuzz - October 2025 | The Buzz Magazines

By Todd Freed, Staff writer | September 27, 2025

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ON THE ATTACK St. John’s Mavericks junior Jacey Carroll has packed a powerful punch all season long while accounting for 370 kills through the first 26 matches of the season. (Photo: Jack Chavez)

As a standout senior offensive tackle for the Bellaire Cardinals in 2014, little could Devonte Jones ever have imagined that a mere 11 years later he would be back at his alma mater as the school’s first-year head football coach. “It feels great to come back and lead these young players,” said Jones, who at only 27 years of age became one of the youngest coaches in Texas football history to take charge of a UIL 6A football program.

“I had the opportunity to play college football [at Stephen F. Austin University] and I would love to guide the guys who want to go in that direction, or if not, we want to instill discipline, hard work, and teamwork to be successful in the real world even if they choose not to play sports,” said Jones.

In week two of the season, Jones posted his first career coaching victory in a 36-0 victory over Sam Houston. “It felt great to get that first win,” said Jones. “To see these guys develop and all their hard work starting to pay off is huge. One of the big things we’re working on is execution and increasing our competitive level on a consistent basis. We tell the kids to just do your job, day in and day out.”

In the previous three seasons, Jones was the Cardinals’ offensive line coach, so he has great familiarity with the current Bellaire roster. “These are hard-working players with a lot of natural leaders. We’re a real senior-heavy team with lots of experience.”

Now, as he’s just turned 28 and coaching a major UIL 6A football program, Jones says he more than welcomes the challenge. “I’ve been around the game since I was a kid and have been on the firing line as a player. I work well with people of all ages so I’m just going to take what I’ve learned over the years and apply it to football here at Bellaire.”

After advancing to the SPC Championship final in volleyball last season, the St. John’s Mavericks were well on track to another great season on the hardwood, having defeated a number of powerhouse UIL 5A and 6A programs leading into the SPC portion of its schedule.

“We’ve had a strong team the last several seasons, so I wanted to put together a schedule to challenge us at the beginning of the season,” said Mavericks head volleyball coach Shelbi Irvin.

The Mavericks certainly have lived up to that challenge with victories over perennial large UIL powers such as Pearland, Waco Midway, Shadow Creek, Prosper, Clear Falls, and others. In addition, the Mavericks came within a couple of points of defeating a Friendswood Mustangs team that’s considered a strong state title contender in UIL Class 5A Volleyball.

“Along with our talent, I really love the resilience I’ve seen from our girls,” said Irvin. “If we struggle early on in a match, they are able to put it behind them while staying the course to bounce back and win the match. We have 18 players on the roster and they’re a tight-knit group with a genuine love for each other. I think that close bond translates to success on the court.”

On the court, the Mavericks are led by a pair of standout attackers in junior Jacey Carroll and senior Kiran Rio. Through the first 26 matches of the season, Carroll had already accounted for 370 kills, and Rio will play collegiate volleyball at Cornell University. Meantime, Irvin said junior setter Olivia Landahl has been a huge contributor to the Mavericks success.

MIGHTY MUSTANGS The Memorial Mustangs celebrated after winning the silver division bracket of this season’s Texas Showdown Volleyball tournament.

The Memorial Mustangs entered the District 17-6A portion of its volleyball schedule with several notable victories under its belt, including the silver division championship of the Texas Showdown Volleyball tournament just north of San Antonio. “It was a really good field and we even beat the overall champion Buda in pool play,” said Mustangs head coach Kaddie Platt. “We gained a lot of confidence from that tournament.

“We have a fun team with lots of high energy. The girls are defensively scrappy and give lots of effort in everything they do. They’re just real fun to watch,” she added.

Among the players to watch out for this season is 6-foot-2 middle blocker Anna Scott Torn, who has given the Mustangs a big offensive presence. In addition, four-year varsity player Ella Ross was the District 17-6A offensive player of the year last season while senior libero Kassia Tan was last season’s District 17-6A Defensive Player of the Year.

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email [email protected].