The Lady Vandal volleyball program rolled out the red carpet last weekend, welcoming teams from Lindale, White Oak, Mineola, Kilgore, Cumby, Bullard, Lone Oak, Timpson, New Boston, Mt. Pleasant and Carthage to Van for their annual home tournament.

Van would put together a solid showing at the two-day event, battling their way to a third place finish in the Gold Bracket.

Play began Aug. 20 with Van taking on both Kilgore and Cumby in pool play. The Lady Vandals earned easy wins in both matchup, advancing to the Gold Bracket the following morning.

Led by Bella Thompson’s 10 kills and Abby Clyburn’s 10 digs, Van powered its way to a 25-16, 25-23 win over the Cumby Lady Trojans in the first game of the tournament.

Van put together an even more impressive showing in their second match of the tournament, downing Kilgore 25-11, 25-17 to cap a perfect first day.

Bella Thompson again led the Van attack with seven kills, while Claire Rose added three, Maci Jones and Ashlyn Lloyd two each and Caitlyn Stanfield and Macie Hansel one each.

The Lady Vandals would go on to earn a win over Timpson in the first game of bracket play before suffering their lone setback of the tournament in a heartbreaking three set loss to White Oak.

Van looked solid early in the match, taking the first set 25-23. White Oak would roar back form there, taking the second 25-14 to even the match before closing out the showdown with a 25-21 run to cap the third.

Van showed its resiliency in the third-place match against Bullard, closing out the action with a 25-19, 25- 21 win.

The Lady Vandals were scheduled to appear in the Edgewood Tournaemnt before hosting Farmersville Aug. 31.