Archives > Sports
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Consolation Prize: Plano sweeps Allen, Lady Eagles still make playoffs
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Any side effects of the Plano Senior volleyball team's loss to Plano West on Friday vanished the moment senior Audrey Davis laid down an ace to open Tuesday's match against Allen.
It was fitting, given how the Lady Wildcats never trailed in rounding out their regular season with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-17, 25-14) of the Lady Eagles.
"Going into West last Friday was a little disappointing," said Teri Minnis, Plano head coach, "but coming out and playing the way we did tonight made it better. We needed a match where we could terminate and take care of business."
"I wanted to have a better showing here," said Kelley Gregoriew, Allen head coach. "I thought we played great early on. Both sides had their chances and I'm not sure what happened between sets one and two."
A nip-and-tuck opening set was the closest the Lady Eagles came to snagging momentum Tuesday. With each set win, the Lady Wildcats got stronger and culminated their regular season with a 25-14 decision.
A myriad of early Allen errors aided a 7-2 start by the Wildcats and the requisite offense filled the gaps, with senior Madison Morell banging home five of her 10 kills in the final frame in addition to a match-clinching block.
Committing just two errors in the third set, Plano opened up an advantage as steep as 19-7, as offense continually proved tough to come by for the Lady Eagles.
"We usually have really good ball control, which helps keep us in the game," Gregoriew said. "We struggled with that tonight, which made it hard to run the offense."
It wasn't until the set's eighth point that Allen posted its first kill, courtesy of freshman Chandler Atwood, who had five on the night.
That was a running theme all evening for the Lady Eagles, most notably in the second set when Plano posted seven kills for a 10-4 advantage before Allen converted its first kill of the frame.
That cushion would expand to 21-8, courtesy of a 7-0 Plano run midway through the set that included a pair of aces from junior Kylie Long.
Plano's sprint on cruise control was briefly curtailed due to a 9-2 rally by the Lady Eagles that closed the gap to 23-17. Kills by Morell and Long quashed the comeback effort, though.
Long tallied five kills in the second set, a worthy encore to her opening number that featured seven of her match-high 14 kills.
"It's been a lot of fun to watch [Long] grow and progress into that position," Minnis said. "She started out as a middle and had never played left side before. If you look at film from the first match of the year to where we are tonight, she's a completely different player out there."
Senior Sam Seal added three of her nine kills in the first set, with Allen forced to play catch-up from the onset.
The Lady Eagles stayed within reach behind the trio of juniors Camryn Freiberg, Hannah Fry and sophomore Kaitlyn Blake, who each had three kills in the first. Total, Blake led all Lady Eagles with seven kills, while Freiberg added five and Fry chipped in four.
That, coupled with five Plano serving errors, had the teams gridlocked at 23-23 late in the set.
"I preach my kids to be aggressive when they're serving," Minnis said, "and what that I know there are going to be errors along the way. It's just one of those things where we have to take it and run with it."
The Lady Wildcats averted the miscues and instead, let the steady trigger of Long seal the set with two unanswered kills.
It set the tone for the reminder of the evening, with Plano riding into the playoffs with a win in tow. Who is officially named the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds between Plano and West remains to be seen, with potential playoffs matchups against Lake Highlands or Richardson looming.
The Lady Eagles' picture is a bit clearer, with Allen slated to meet Richardson Pearce in bi-district play at a time and place to be determined. There will be no shortage of familiarity, with Allen having already bested Pearce twice this season.
"We were playing well (over the past few weeks) up until set two tonight," Gregoriew said. "... We just need to forget about this one, so it doesn't repeat on Monday or Tuesday."
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
