By GALEN WELLNICKI 

Georgetown's Lady Eagles -- expected to be one of the three prime contenders in the District 23-5A volleyball race -- opened the 14-match quest for a UIL state playoff berth with a dominant performance against Pflugerville Connally Friday on Sun City Night at Eagle Gym.

 Coach Jenny Richardson's Lady Eagles took down the Lady Cougars, 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-5) in a match that left them tied with Pflugerville Hendrickson, East View and Pflugerville in first place after the first night of 23-5A action.

 "I feel great right now," Richardson said after a victory that allowed GHS to improve season to 15-16 on the season. "I'm really happy with the win and the way we played. We wanted to make improvements on defense and in our blocking and that showed tonight."

  The Lady Eagles will be on the road for both of their matches this week -- at Pflugerville on Tuesday and Elgin on Friday. Both varsity contests are set for 6:30 p.m. Pflugerville (11-22) is coming off a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23) win over Bastrop and Elgin (4-12) dropped a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-9) decision to East View. Elgin will play Connally on Tuesday night before playing Georgetown.

  In a match in which Connally, now 9-18 for season, had trouble handling Georgetown's offense and keeping its own hits within the dimensions of the court, the Lady Eagles posted a .390 hitting percentage (28 of 59 with only five errors) and a 47.3 kill efficiency. Sophomore Addy Gaido put down nine of 18 kill attempts, while junior Kamryn Shelton and senior Kate Stengle added five and four, respectively. GHS added 15 aces in 73 serves with senior Molly Edwards and Stengle each producing four. Stengle and sophomore Issabella Casanova feed the attack with 11 and nine assists.

  Defensively, senior Alexis Flora had 18 of the Lady Eagles' 41 digs.

  In the opening set, GHS jumped to a 13-2 lead and then closed it out by scoring the final seven points with senior Victoria Guyton playing a key role in the final push.

  The Lady Cougars, who trailed by 12 points at 22-10 in the second set, rallied to close the gap to 23-17, but Georgetown finished the set with a kill by senior Abby Brent and an ace by senior Ellie Quiroz.

  Leading 10-3 in the third set, the Lady Eagles closed out the match by scoring 15 of the final 17 points. The set point came on a net serve by Connally. Ten of GHS' final points came on a service series by Edwards.

  GHS also swept the JV and Freshman White matches in straight sets. The JV prevailed 25-4, 25-9. There was no Freshman Blue (B) contest as Connally does not field a team at that level.

  In addition to the varsity game Tuesday at Pflugerville -- JV and Freshman White matches are set for 6:30 p.m. and a Freshman Blue contest at 6:30 p.m.

***.

FRIDAY'S DISTRICT 23-5A MATCH

At Eagle Gym

GEORGETOWN DEF. PFLUGERVILLE CONNALLY, 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-5)

 Season records: Georgetown,15-16; Pflugerville Connally, 9-18.

 Georgetown statistics: Kills: 28-59 (5 errors). Hitting percentage: .390. Kill efficiency: 47.5. Individuals: Kate Stengle, 4-6; Sadie Mccauley,1-5; Sophie Jazesf, 0-3; Victoria Guyton, 3-6; Ka,ryn Shelton, 5-9; Abby Brent, 2-3; Ellie Quiroz, 0-1; Mckenzie Bernard, 2-4; Addy Gaido, 9-18; Issabella Casanova, 2-4.

 Aces (15-72): Alexis Flora 2, Karsyn Hamons 2,Stengle 4, Brooklyn Trulove 1, Molly Edwards 4, Quiroz 1, Bernard 1. Total blocks (3): Mccauley 1, Guyton 1, Gaido 1. Digs (41): Flora 18, Hamons 4, Stengle 5, Mccauley 2, Guyton 2, Shelton 2, Trulove 1, Edwards 2, Quiroz 2, Bernard 1, Gaido 1, Casanova 1. Assists (22): Hamons 1, Stengle 11, Quiroz 1, Casanova 9.

***

 Pflugerville Connally statistics unavailable.

***

DISTRICT 23-5A AT A GLANCE

 Standings: GEORGETOWN, 1-0; East View, 1-0; Pflugerville Hendrickson, 1-0; Pflugerville, 1-0; Bastrop, 0-1; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 0-1; Elgon, 0-1' Pflugerville Connally, 0-1.

 Friday's results: Georgetown def. Connally, 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-5); East View def. Elgin, 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-9); Hendrickson def. Cedar Creek, 3-1 (25-6, 20=25, 25-19, 25-22); Pflugerville def. Bastrop, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23).

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