By Devin Hasson
RICHARDSON—Sachse and Richardson are no strangers to the playoffs.
The Eagles are currently in the midst of a 10-year streak of postseason appearances, and have qualified in 16 of the last 18 attempts.
The Mustangs have been even more consistent, having never missed the playoffs since their inaugural campaign in 2004.
On Tuesday, the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle that felt like a postseason match-up.
Both had their chances to walk away from the night with a victory, but in the end, it was Richardson that was able to rally late for a 25-17, 22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15 victory at Richardson High School.
The teams traded blows all night, and the fifth set was no different.
Riding the momentum of having won Game 4, the Eagles took an early lead in the decisive set only to have the Mustangs come right back, using an ace from Sarah Naidoo to take a 4-2 lead.
Sachse maintained the advantage for much of the game, getting three kills from Fallin Whitmore, and additional points from Natalie Rainey and Khloe Ellis to take a 12-9 lead.
The Mustangs were poised to claim a road victory in a loud environment after a nice play by Naidoo made it 14-11.
But Richardson refused to go away.
Taking advantage of a couple of Sachse mistakes, and getting a tip from Mackenzie Ratcliff, the Eagles fended off three match points to knot it at 14-14.
The Mustangs had another chance to close it out after a kill by Ellis, but Richardson had the final answer, getting a pair of kills from Leighton Felder, including one on match point, to earn a 17-15 victory in the fifth, and secure the victory.
Richardson’s closing surge mirrored the start of the match, where behind a five-point service from Aubrey Tennell, highlighted by two aces, it raced to a 6-0 lead.
Sachse continued to battle for the remainder of the set, but never quite get over the early hump.
A kill from Whitmore capped a 7-3 run that got them back to within two, but the Eagles were able to keep them at arm’s length.
The Mustangs cut the deficit to a single point on three occasions in the middle stages of the set, but a pair of kills by Ratcliff helped Richardson keep its cushion.
Later in the game, the Eagles spread the wealth, getting kills from Ratcliff, Rebecca Schmidt and Tennell, and then an ace from Marlo Bunch to close out a 25-19 win.
In the second set, it was Sachse that came out strong, getting kills from Ellis, Rainey and Jayla Butler to take the early advantage.
Though it remained tight, the Mustangs never trailed, getting a late kill from Whitmore and an ace from Kate Guinn to even the match at a set apiece with the 25-22 victory.
The teams traded points through much of Game 3, with Sachse able to maintain a slight edge on the scoreboard.
Richardson briefly took a 16-15 lead on a kill from Ratcliff, but the Mustangs answered with a six-point run, getting a nice service run from Jacey Gibbs to take a 21-16 advantage.
Ellis then closed it out, delivering a pair of kills and an ace to finish off a 25-19 win to put them one game away from the victory.
The Eagles were determined to not let that happen.
Behind strong early play from Ratcliff and Felder, Richardson raced to a 16-6 lead.
Sachse made a push, getting as close as 22-20 after a kill from Whitmore, but the Eagles were able to close out the set and ultimately win the match.
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By David Wolman
Sachse turned things around in a big way last week in Bryan, winning six of nine matches for 17th place out of 56 teams in the Legends Invitational.
Sachse began pool play with a resounding 25-22, 25-10 victory over Cedar Creek. The Lady Mustangs lost 25-23, 26-28, 25-16 to Victoria West in their next match, responded with a 25-19, 17-25, 25-22 win over Hardin-Jefferson, fell 25-13, 25-7 to Stratford and lost 25-27, 25-12, 25-15 against Klein Cain.
However, Sachse finished pool play with a 25-23, 25-16 victory over Wylie Prep.
That victory was the first of four straight triumphs for the Lady Mustangs to close out the three-day event – a 25-13, 25-20 sweep of Harker Heights, a 25-11 demolition of Manvel and a 25-23, 25-22 win over Kingwood.
Sachse was balanced offensively, with Khloe Ellis (49 kills), Ella Smith (48), Jayla Butler (44), Natalie Rainey (38) and Fallin Whitmore (36) each recording more than 30 kills. Rainey (13 blocks), Amyah Davis (11) and Butler (10) each had double digit totals in blocks. Sarah Naidoo tallied 17 service aces and dished out 101 assists.
Earlier in the week, Sachse cruised to a 25-7, 25-19, 25-17 win over Mesquite.
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By Justin Thomas
(editor’s note: check out game photos here — https://csmediatexas.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=6888586)
It was just the first game of the season, but already Sachse’s offense appears to be in midseason form.
The Mustangs scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions Friday, cruising past Dallas Jesuit to kick off their 2026 campaign, 52-24, at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Friday.
Quarterback Christian McCaffrey threw for 198 yards and four touchdowns, while running back Ladainian Jones gained 99 yards on 14 carries with a score.
Wide receiver DJ Doyle, meanwhile, hauled in three receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns.
The Mustangs forced five Rangers’ turnovers, including a Jason Aniede 67-yard interception return for a touchdown with just 17 seconds remaining in the game.
Sachse (1-0) will travel to John Clark Stadium next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against Plano Senior (0-1).
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By David Wolman
For the second time this season, Sachse’s boys captured first place, this time coming on Saturday morning in Tyler.
Placing four runners in the top 10, the Mustangs won the team title at the Tyler Legacy Invite at Lindsey Park. Sachse’s 43 points were well ahead of Tyler Home Education Athletics’ 71 points.
Samuel Ledbetter ran a 35-second personal record and took first place in the individual standings with a time of 15:35, beating his previous PR of 16:10. Dominic Richardson captured fifth with a 16:13. Ozzy Heredia placed eighth in 16:31. Sadiki Mburu also cracked the top 10, taking 10th in a time of 16:36.
Brave Cook placed 26th with a 17:28, Ryan King clocked a time of 18:30 for 48th place, Joseph Castaneda placed 61st in 18:53 and Johnathan Alemayehu took 64th in 18:59.
The Lady Mustangs earned fifth place with 135 points and were led individually by Alicia Payne, who captured 17th place with a 21:10.
Adeline Moss placed 38th in 22:44, Brighton Cook took 40th in 22:51, Colette Leonard finished 44th in 22:59 and Brisa Morales was 48th in 23:05.
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By Devin Hasson
Sachse has been a perennial district contender, and often champion, and playoff team since its inaugural campaign in 2004.
The Mustangs understand that the early stages of the season are not what matters most, but there are still frustrations when things do not go the way they hoped, and that has been the case against some of the top competition in the state, as they brought a 4-11 record into Tuesday’s non-district clash with Mesquite (5-7).
Sachse took out some of those frustrations on the Skeeters.
The Mustangs roared to a dominant win in the opening set, and while Mesquite made some adjustments, it did not matter in the end, as Sachse earned a 25-7, 25-19, 25-17 sweep at Sachse High School.
“In the first set, we looked really solid, we were hitting our positions, and it was our first home game, so they were pretty excited,” Sachse head coach Rikki Jones said. “It was a great start, honestly. We’ve been trying to focus on having fewer unforced errors, and we did a pretty good job on that. And second set, third set, we didn’t necessarily get sloppy, but we missed some plays that we need to get. But that gives us something to focus on. Still some stuff to work on, but nice to get the win.”
The Mustangs set the tone from the start, reeling off the first seven points of the match, a run that includes a nice service run from Sarah Naidoo and a pair of kills from Jayla Butler.
It did not get any easier for Mesquite from there, as Harper Holt served a pair of aces and Khloe Ellis and Amyah Davis added kills to make it 14-4.
With a commanding lead, Ella Smith took over down the stretch, recording four of her six kills in the game to help close out a 25-7 win.
The second set was tight at the start, and in fact, Mesquite actually took a 13-11 lead after a kill from Janessa Orozco.
But Sachse had an answer, as it would close on a 14-6 run. The Mustangs spread the wealth, getting points from Smith, Ellis, Butler, Davis and Natallie Rainey to rally for the two-set lead.
Looking to close out the sweep, Sachse grabbed an early lead and never relinquished it. Freshman Addyson Cheatham provided a spark with three kills in the middle stages to open an 11-7 lead and the Lady Mustangs pulled away from there, with Fallin Whitmore capping the night with a kill to finish off the win.
While the Mustangs’ record is still not flashy, Tuesday represented progress, as Jones has been focused on things other than the win-loss column during the first month.
“It’s always ball control, serve-receive, so I need to make sure I have more personnel stepping up defensively and with serve-receive, and then offensively, we just need to improve our hitting percentage a little bit, we’re making some untimely mistakes, but both of those things are on us and we can control that,” she said. “They are doing a good job, they are being coachable, they are listening, they are a really good group of kids and they are doing a good job of trying to soak in everything and improve every day.”
After playing their first home match of the season, Sachse returns to the road later this week for a tournament in College Station, a trip that Jones is hopeful will be a good bonding experience.
And while like every season, the Mustangs feature some new faces, their two-plus decades of excellence has set the bar high, and this group is not shying away from that.
“The standard is the standard, and I may have had to change approaches since 25 years ago. Some of my kids come back and said, ‘You are so easy on them,’ but the approach changes. Different kids need different things, but the standard is the standard,” she said. ” And they want that, too. They want to make the number proud and the school proud and the community proud, like they always have, and they are doing a good job.”
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]]>By David Wolman
After struggling in a 3-0 loss to Rockwall-Heath (25-9, 25-18, 25-15) in its season opener, Sachse found much better success in the Garland ISD Tournament.
The Lady Mustangs (4-5) posted back-to-back, two-set sweeps of Dallas Roosevelt (25-8, 25-4) and Hanks (25-20, 25-10) for their first two wins of 2026.
Sachse lost a hard-fought match to JJ Pearce (25-20, 25-22) to round out the first day of action and then proceeded to drop its first two matches of the second day, losing a three-set thriller to Frisco Memorial (17-25, 12-25, 23-25) and in straight sets to Plano (25-15, 25-13). The Lady Mustangs finished the day on a winning note, earning a win over El Paso Socorro (28-26, 25-23).
Sachse went 1-1 on the final day of the Garland ISD Tournament, defeating South Grand Prairie (25-21, 23-25, 25-15) and falling to Hallsville (25-17, 29-27).
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By David Wolman
PLANO — One year after winning the District 9-6A title, Sachse’s boys cross country team showed at last Saturday’s Plano ISD Invitational that it has the experience to make it two consecutive 9-6A championships.
Sachse, paced by four top 10 finishes, captured first place with a team score of 52 points, and senior Samuel Ledbetter garnered top honors as the race’s top individual finisher. Ledbetter, a returning state qualifier, pulled away from the rest of the pack halfway through the 2-mile run and went on to clock a winning time of 10:03.
There were several Mustangs who weren’t far behind Ledbetter.
Junior Dominic Richardson, last year’s district champion, turned in the next fastest time for the Mustangs with a 10:26, good for fourth place. Junior Sadiki Mburu took eighth in 10:37. Senior Ozzy Heredia also cracked the top 10, placing ninth in 10:40.
Sophomore Brave Cook was 31st in 11:31 and junior William King placed 39th in 11:49.
The Lady Mustangs didn’t bring their full lineup to Plano, but Sachse showed that it has great depth on its varsity roster, especially within its junior class.
Arora Ngo provided the biggest spark for a sixth-place team finish for the Lady Mustangs, taking sixth in 12:38. Alicia Payne finished in 19th in 13:29, Kaitlyn Herrera was 23rd in 13:36, Adeline Moss took 43rd in 14:45 and Brisa Morales finished in 50th place in 15:25.
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By David Wolman
In the final hours leading up to Sachse’s first fall football practice, head coach Mark “Red” Behrens wasn’t sure if his Mustangs were going to be inside or outside.
With the sun blazing, temperature of 98 degrees and heat index of 104, Behrens was hopeful to watch his squad practice inside the comforts of the school’s brand-new multipurpose activity center.
The multi-purpose activity center was part of a Garland ISD bond package – Proposition B – that was passed by voters in Garland in 2023 for a total cost of $135.91 million. Every high school in the school district has a multipurpose activity center that is completed or under construction.
Sachse’s indoor 80-yard practice field has been completed. However, the only holdup is the city of Sachse. The city needs to issue a temporary occupancy permit, which Behrens is hopeful that will be done sometime this week.
With the Mustangs having to practice outside until the permit has been issued, team trainers and coaches closely monitored the weather conditions.
Monitoring the temperature has always been a priority at Sachse and new technology is in use to ensure the players are safe.
Starting this year, the UIL mandates that teams that practice outdoors must use a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) app on a cell phone or another electronic device. The WBGT is a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight, which takes temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover into account.
If the temperature exceeds a certain threshold, a team can’t practice outdoors.
Sachse’s first practice went on as planned, and hydration was emphasized. Six hydration stations were set up around the practice field. After every three reps of a drill, players walked to the stations and filled up on water.
The water provided the hydration that Sachse needed to get through practice.
Monday’s practice began with stretching.
Players were then paired with their position groups. Offensive linemen worked on their handwork and footwork during a blocking drill. Defensive linemen on the opposite side of the field worked on lifting a football sled. Nearby, players for Sachse’s secondary lined up and used a pad to work on arm technique. Running backs used bags to work on their footwork and also dove to the ground to gain control of a loose ball.
Sachse will continue to hone its skills over the next two weeks, in preparation for its Aug. 28 season opener against Jesuit, scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff from Homer B. Johnson Stadium.
The Mustangs are eager to build on last year’s 6-5 record and Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff appearance.
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By David Wolman
HEATH – Sachse got its 2026 volleyball season off to a rough start Tuesday, but head coach Rikki Jones said the Lady Mustangs can only use it as a learning experience for her young team.
“We better get better, but we had a lot of young kids and some of them were nervous in their first game,” Jones said after a 25-9, 25-18, 25-15 loss to a tall, experienced and talented Heath team.
Sachse scored the first point in each of the three sets but was unable to keep the momentum in any of the three sets, forcing Jones into multiple timeouts and a spirited postgame talk to her players after the game.
“We have played this team (Heath) several years in a row to start the season and we usually got five games because everybody is working on things, but it was a tough one tonight.”
The Lady Mustangs got steadily better each set before a nearly full crowd at Heath gym.
After a tough opening game, they cut the deficit to just 12-9 in game two thanks in part to a spike return point by sophomore outside hitter Khole Ellis and an ace serve by Ellis.
“She is young, but you can tell she is going to be a good player for us. She made some mistakes but also recovered from them. She has the fight and competitive spirit we need,” Jones said.
In set three, Sachse took its largest lead of the entire contest, 9-7, midway through the game which forced Heath into its only timeout of the contest. After the brief break in play, the Hawks came back on an 8-1 run for a 15-10 lead which forced Sachse into another timeout of their own.
“We’re going into tournament play with possibly six games this weekend and that is what we need to get ready,” said Jones. “Our defense is brand new to a lot of our kids and our offense has been here for one year, but we have a lot of room to improve.”
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By David Wolman
Sachse added another successful chapter to its athletic tradition during the 2025-26 school year.
The Sachse News is proud to introduce the third installment of a three-part series celebrating the best teams, athletes, moments and performances from this past school year. The categories and winners for the second annual C&S Media High School Sports Awards were chosen by sports editor David Wolman, with winners being published over three weeks.
Part 1 (July 16) included the Biggest Story, Breakthrough Moment, Newcomer of the Year and Best Team
Part 2 (July 23) highlighted the Best Game, Best Finish, Biggest Upset and Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year.
Part 3 (July 30) wraps up the series with Coach of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete.
These are the winners of the third installment of the series.
Co-Coach of the Year: Kristen Campbell, girls’ soccer; Micah Moore, boys’ basketball
Campbell and Moore helped lead their respective programs to new heights.
Prior to this past season, Sachse’s boys’ basketball team won just one playoff game in school history.
That one win belonged to one of Moore’s closest friends, Zachary Mikesell, now the head coach at Prosper Richland. Not only did Moore build on the previous success that Sachse had enjoyed under Mikesell, but the Mustangs advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the first time – accomplishing the feat in Moore’s first season at Sachse.
After edging Rockwall by one point, 58-57, in a Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff ballgame, Sachse had to claw back multiple times before surviving a dramatic finish to defeat Waxahachie, 46-45, in the area round. Sachse lost 67-41 to Cypress Ranch in the regional semifinals.
On the soccer field, two of Sachse’s best seasons in school history have come under Campbell’s watch.
One year after making an appearance in the regional final, Sachse went undefeated in District 9-6A play and took a talented Keller team to overtime in the state semifinals. The Lady Mustangs tied the score at 1-1 with a goal from Emma Ramirez, but the Lady Indians scored the only goal in overtime, as Keller won 2-1. Sachse earned playoff wins over Tyler Legacy (3-1), Duncanville (1-1 in a shootout), The Woodlands (2-0) and Grand Oaks (4-0).
Most Improved Athlete: Cameryn Fair, track and field
After playing both volleyball and track and field during her sophomore and junior seasons, Fair gave up volleyball during her senior season to focus on track and field.
The decision paid off.
After coming up short of qualifying for the Class 6A state meet in three events during her junior season, Fair earned her spot at state in the long jump after earning the wild card spot for having the top distance (19-2) of any third-place finisher in the fourth regions in Class 6A. She placed eighth at state with a distance of 18-4.75.
Fair finished her high school career as Sachse’s record holder in the long jump with a leap of 19-7.25, which she set at the area meet in Royse City. Sachse’s quartet of Fair, Channing Phillips, Jaeda Bradshaw and Sydney Funston ran to a new school record time of 46.88 at the area meet.
Best Male Athlete: Augustus Friedel, swimming
Last year, Sachse junior Augustus Friedel was pleased to qualify for the state meet in the 100-meter butterfly.
Friedel finished second at the Region III-6A meet and continued to surprise himself at the Class 6A state meet, where he placed 15th.
However, reducing the number of events that he competed in from three to two helped him place higher in the state.
The decreased workload paid off for Friedel, who finished third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:28.59 and fourth in the 200 freestyle in 1:38.47 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
With his third-place finish in the 500 free, Friedel became the first swimmer in program history to earn a medal at the state meet.
Best Female Athlete: Kate McCallister, girls’ soccer
McCallister’s playmaking ability helped lead the Lady Mustangs to their best season in program history.
The University of Oklahoma signee scored 45 goals and added 16 assists, leading Sachse to its first-ever appearance in the state semifinals. The Lady Mustangs became the first girls’ soccer team from Garland ISD to reach the penultimate round of the postseason.
For McCallister’s efforts, she was named the Class 6A Offensive Player of the Year by the Texas High School Coaches Association, earned a spot on the THSCA Super Elite Team and was voted District 9-6A MVP.
McCallister was especially dominant in District 9-6A play, scoring 38 goals and adding nine assists as Sachse captured an undefeated District 9-6A championship season. She was named the district’s Most Valuable Player of the Year following the conclusion of the season.
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