By GALEN WELLNICKI

 Probably the most asked question Friday night after homestanding Pflugerville Hendrickson defeated Georgetown, 3-1 (25-19, 14-25, 25-21, 25-19), deadlocking the Hawks and Lady Eagles at 10-1 with three matches remaining on the District 23-5A schedule, was what would be the tie-breaker?

 GHS head coach Jenny Richardson had a simple answer -- "We'll play it off on the Friday (Oct. 27) after the end of the regular season." The winner will earn the district's top seeding in the 128-team UIL Class 5A state playoffs against the fourth-place representative from District 24-A, an alignment of Austin schools. The loser would face the third-place team from 24-5A.

 Looking ahead at the highways facing both contenders, Hendrickson, which is ranked 13th in this week's TGCA poll, appears to have a slightly easier path than the 17th-ranked Lady Eagles. However, both teams have homecourt matches with third-place East View (9-2) on their schedule. The Hawks will entertain the Patriots on Tuesday and Georgetown will play host to East View on Friday.

 After facing East View, Hendrickson will close the regular campaign against sixth-place Pflugerville Connally and eighth- place Elgin, which is yet to win a set in district action. Georgetown, however, must sandwich its home date with the Patriots around road battles with Bastrop Cedar Creek (5-6) at 6:30 p.m. and Bastrop (5-6) on the final night of the regular season (Tuesday, Oct. 24).

 Both Cedar Creek and Bastrop could prove serious challengers for GHS as they are currently deadlocked for 23-5A's fourth-and-final playoff berth with Connally currently breathing down their necks at 4-7. Their motivation will be there.

 In Tuesday's battle with Cedar Creek, Georgetown, which had its 12-match victory streak ended on Friday, will put its 28-15 season mark on the line against Cedar Creek's 7-21 reading for the season. The Lady Eagles won the first meeting 3-0 (25-4, 25-9, 25-14) on Friday, Sept. 22, at Eagle Gym.

 As for the loss to Hendrickson, Richardson said, "Hendrickson played really well and has a very good team. We just did not do as well on some of the little things. We should learn a lot on what we need to do on the video of this match. Now, we need to concentrate on our final three matches."

 The Hawks appeared to have a decided edge in hitting with 55 kills in 142 hits with 18 errors for a 38.7 kill efficiency and .261 hitting percentage as the Lady Eagles made 33 kills in 105 hits and 13 errors for a 31.4 kill efficiency and .140 hitting percentage). Hendrickson had a strong 1-2-3 attack in Kara Wynn with 17, Kamea Uitenham with 14 and Mia McCurley 11. The Lady Eagles 1-2-3 was juniors Addy Gaido and Sadie Mccauley with nine each and junior Molly O'Shaughnessy with eight.

 GHS managed just one service ace by Gaido in 62 team serves, while the Hendrickson had five in 85 serves.

 Other statistical leaders for the Lady Eagles were junior Mckenzie Bernard with five total blocks, junior Raegan Ramirez with 18 digs and junior Allison O'Shaughnessy with 20 assists.

 In an opening set that was tied 17 times, Hendrickson outscored GHS, 7-1, in the final minutes to take the 25-19 win with the set point coming on a hitting error.

 Georgetown came back to win the second set scoring eight of the final nine points with a wide hit by the Hawks giving GHS the set point.

 In the third set, the Hawks built a 17-12 lead, but the Lady Eagles closed the gap to 23-21 before Hendrickson took a 2-1 lead in the match on a kill by Wynn.

 The deciding set, GHS was in the running trailing 16-14 before a run of seven points, including three kills by Wynn, put the Hawks ahead 23-15, but the Lady Eagles rebounded with run of four points to close the gap to 23-19, before Hendrickson recorded the final two points, producing the deadlock for first place.

 The Georgetown sub-varsity teams swept their Hendrickson foes. The JV improved to a first-place 11-0 in 23-5A with a 25-18, 25-13 victory. The Flex team improved to 10-1 with a 25-13, 27-17 win and the Freshman A remained unbeaten in district with a 26-24, 25-21 triumph.

 The sub-varsity agenda for Tuesday at Cedar Creek calls for JV and Flex matches at 5:30 p.m. No Freshman A game is scheduled.

***

GEORGETOWN AT PFLUGERVILLE HENDRICKSON

At Hendrickson

HENDRICKSON DEF. GHS, 3-1 (25-19, 14-25, 25-21, 26-19)

Georgetown Statistics

 Kills (33-105-13, 31.4 kill efficiency, .140 hitting percentage) -- Molly O'Shaughnessy 8-28, Sadie Mccauley 9-28, Sofia Jazesf 3-10, Mckenzie Bernard 4-12, Addy Gaido 9-22, Allison O'Shaughnessy 0-5.

 Aces (1-62-4) -- Raegan Ramirez 0-14, M. O'Shaughnessy 0-10, Mccauley 0-11, Issabella Casanova 0-5, Reagan Truitt 0-2, Bernard 0-2, Gaido 1-11, A. O'Shaughnessy 0-6. Total blocks (7) -- M. O'Shaughnessy 1, Jazesf 1, Bernard 5, Gaido 3, A. O'Shaughnessy 2. Digs (55) -- Ramirez 18, M. O'Shaughnessy 9, Mccauley 10, Jazesf 1, Casanova 1, Truitt 1, Gaido 11, A. O'Shaughnessy 4. Assists (30) -- Ramirez 1, M. O'Shaughnessy 1, Casanova 6, Gaido 2, A. O'Shaughnessy 20.

Hendrickson Team Statistic and Individual Leaders

 Kills (55-142-18, 38.7 kill efficiency, .261 hitting percentage) -- Kara Wynn 17-43, Kamea Uitenham 14-33, Mia McCurley 11-20. Aces (5-85-7) -- Jordan Flores 2. Total blocks (6) -- McCurley 4, Uitenham 3. Digs (73) -- Wynn 18, Flores 14, Megan Warren 14. Assists (52) -- Warren 46.

 Season records: Georgetown, 28-15; Hendrickson, 28-6.

***

DISTRICT 23-5A STANDINGS

(Through games of Oct. 13)

 GEORGETOWN, 10-1; Pflugerville Hendrickson, 10-1; East View, 9-2; Bastrop, 5-6; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 5-6; Pflugerville Connally, 4-7; Pflugerville, 1-10; Elgin, 0-11.

 Friday's results: Hendrickson def. Georgetown, 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19); East View def. Pflugerville, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-14); Connally def. Bastrop, 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-9); Cedar Creek def. Elgin, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-15).

 Tuesday's matches: Georgetown at Cedar Creek, 6:30 p.m.; East View at Hendrickson, 6:30 p.m.; Elgin at Bastrop, 6:30 p.m.; Connally at Pflugerville, 6:30 p.m.

 Friday (Oct. 20) matches: East View at Georgetown, 6:30 p.m.; Hendrickson at Connally, 6:30 p.m.; Bastrop at Cedar Creek, 6:30 p.m.; Elgin at Pflugerville, 6:30 p.m.; Bastrop at Cedar Creek, 6:30 p.m.

***

TEXAS GIRLS COACHES ASSOCIATION

CLASS 5A STATE RANKINGS

(Released Monday, Oct. 16)

 1. Frisco Wakeland, 26-6; 2. Mission Sharyland, 41-1; 3. Fulshear, 31-4; 4. Leander Rouse, 34-11; 5. Amarillo, 32-5; 6. Argyle, 32-8; 7. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill, 34-7; 8. Hallsville, 32-5; 9. Liberty Hill, 36-8; 10. New Braunfels Canyon, 35-9;

11. Lucas Lovejoy, 25-9; 12. Brownsville Pace, 28-3; 13. Pflugerville Hendrickson, 28-6; 14. Colleyville Heritage, 32-10; 15. Mission Pioneer, 34-5; 16. Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, 26-9; 17. Georgetown, 28-15; 18. San Antonio Southwest, 33-4; 19. Aledo, 28-8; 20. Richmond Foster, 28-8; 21. Frisco Liberty, 29-7; 22. El Paso, 27-7; 23. Lake Belton, 26-11; 24. Austin McCallum, 25-17; 25. (tie) Houston Carnegie Vanguard, 21-5; Justin Northwest, 23-9; Austin LASA, 19-4.