HOUSTON - Welcome to The Big 3!

A new VYPE piece that honors some of the best performances from the previous night's volleyball action. We will carry this over to football, basketball and many other sports throughout the 2022-2023 season.

But we start with volleyball! It was an exciting night as the season officially got underway on Tuesday night with amazing action across the Houston area.

Here are three of the biggest individual performances and some honorable mentions.

Coaches to Nominate players for The Big 3, please email your player of the match with stats to joshua.koch@vypemedia.com or DM us on Twitter @vypehouston. Nominations are taken through 10 am the following day after a game. (For tournaments, please submit those by Monday at 10 am.)

Farah Farooq - Eipscopal

Episcopal had a great start to their season under new head coach Cydrice McMillian. The Knights went on the road and defeated Regional Finalist College Station (3-2) and perennial power Fulshear (3-2). That is a pair of solid wins. In those, Farah Farooq was dominant, racking up 21 kills, 5 blocks and 2 aces in the pair of wins.

Darby Moore - FB Austin

Fort Bend Austin opened up the 2022 season with a four-set win over Bellaire (19-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23) and a big key to that was the play of senior setter Darby Moore. By night's end, Moore had 24 assists, 10 digs and 4 aces for the Bulldogs.

Maggie Ellender - Klein Oak

A nice start to the year for Klein Oak on Tuesday with a five-set win over FB Clements (23-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11) and a three-set victory over Cy Falls (25-11, 25-9, 25-9). In both of those matches, Maggie Ellender played lights out at setter. Ellender in the first match recorded 39 assists, while notching an additional 27 in the second match of the night.

Honorable Mentions

Cierra Pesak, Friendswood (Libero) - 16 Digs vs Dickinson. Kenedi Medford, Conroe - 19 assists, 17 digs vs Lake Creek Asia Davis, Aldine Davis - 10 digs, 9 aces, 7 kills, 3 assists vs Goose Creek Memorial

Also, check out the highlights from the KPRC2 Volleyball Game of the Week between Tompkins and Ridge Point. The Falcons defeated the Panthers in five sets, winning the last one 15-13 to secure the 3-2 victory.

Tompkins entered the season as VYPE’s No. 9 team in Houston, while Ridge Point was No. 3 in the preseason Class 6A rankings.