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One more time: Plano, Boyd meet again for trip to state tourney
BY Mike Taylor, Special to the Star Courier
HUNTSVILLE -- The Plano Senior volleyball team breezed by Humble Kingwood (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) Friday night in the Region II Semifinals to match the deepest playoff run in program history (2005).
The Lady Wildcats will play District 10-5A rival McKinney Boyd in the regional finals at 11 a.m. Saturday from Sam Houston State University with a trip to next weekend's state tournament at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland on the line. Plano, which has never advanced to the Class 5A State Tournament, is seeking to become just the second team in Plano ISD history (2007 Plano West) to make it to state.
Junior outside hitter Kylie Long led Plano (33-11) with 13 kills and 11 digs. Senior setter Audrey Landry had 15 digs and consistently put the offense in great position. Two other Lady Wildcats -- seniors Sam Seal and Lauren Stahlman -- finished with 11 digs while senior Maddie Morell added three aces -- all in a row in the third set.
Madison McClurg notched seven kills for the Lady Mustangs (31-13).
"I give Plano all the credit because I think they played a great game; I just don't think we played well at all tonight," said Ashley Earhart, Kingwood head coach. "I think that we played timid; we didn't follow the game plan and that's what happened. I think it was a lot of nerves, but that's not an excuse because they haven't been here in a while either."
Next up for Plano is Boyd.
"My kids wanted Boyd to win because they wanted another shot at them," Minnis said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow."
The Lady Broncos are 3-1 against the Lady Wildcats this season, including a pair of wins in district play.
"They've had our number all year," Minnis said.
The Lady Broncos advanced to Saturday's finals by knocking off The Woodlands (26-24, 25-23, 24-26, 25-18).
Boyd senior outside hitter Megan Mollett dominated from the start, finishing with a match-high 26 kills and 34 digs. Mollett helped the Lady Broncos (36-7) hold off the Lady Highlanders in the fourth set. She hammered a kill to push the lead to 20-17 after The Woodlands had scored four consecutive points.
Boyd closed out the match with five of the next six points.
"They had the momentum going into the fourth set," said Kelly Quinn, Boyd head coach. "Megan Mollett went back and scored a few points in a row. She really kept us in the game; I'm really happy with her performance tonight."
It was the second big rally for the Lady Highlanders (36-3), who trailed 20-12 in the third. But then outside hitter Courtney Quinn caught fire, reeling off six kills during a 10-1 run. The Woodlands finished the set and got back in the match on a kill by Madison McDaniel and block by Rachel Reed.
"We had a chance if we could continue that," said Leslie Madison, The Woodlands head coach. "But I will give it to Boyd. They played great defense, they passed well -- they played pretty great. It definitely was hard for us to earn points."
Senior right side hitter Kelly Koop notched 11 kills for Boyd and junior Lauren Petrisin added 10. The Lady Broncos also got 32 digs from libero Kaley Seaber. Tori Turck finished with 17 assists and 19 digs and Parker Shepherd chipped in with 17 assists and 10 digs.
Boyd had a comeback of its own to seize a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Woodlands held leads of 14-11 and 20-16 before Koop drilled three kills and the Lady Highlanders made three hitting errors as the Lady Broncos went up 23-21.
"You can't lose your mental focus in the playoffs," Quinn said. "This is the third time we've been to the regional tournament and I think our experience showed."
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