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No. 1 Stunna: Lady Wildcats topple Southlake Carroll
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
The Southlake Carroll volleyball team ran roughshod on the field at the Duncanville Tournament of Champions, racking up eight victories (including one over Plano Senior) en route to the title and a No. 1 state ranking.
Tuesday night, the Lady Wildcats got their revenge by hosting and defeating the Lady Dragons (13-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 15-13).
"I knew the girls could do it because I have seen them in the gym every day, but it can be hard for the girls to believe in themselves until they actually go out there and achieve something like this," said Teri Minnis, Plano head coach. "This was a huge win for those girls and a huge win for our program because you look back and historically, this is the type of match we don't win."
The Lady Wildcats went 2-4 in Duncanville, but finished 13th after advancing to the championship bracket on the strength of Friday's victories over LD Bell (25-18, 25-19) and College Park (25-13, 25-21). Plano was eliminated by Carroll Saturday in the Round of 16 (25-18, 25-19).
"We went back and looked at the tape after that match," Minnis said. "We were focused on fixing our mistakes and attacking Carroll's weaknesses (in the rematch)."
That didn't happen in Game 1 Tuesday as the Lady Dragons asserted their dominance.
"It was not pretty in Game 1," Minnis said. "Our serve-receive broke down and [Carroll] presented us with several problems, but the kids continued to fight and came out well in Game 2. We had a game plan and executed it by continually attacking the ball."
Plano followed its opening 25-13 loss with a 25-23 win in Game 2. The teams traded wins from there with the Lady Dragons taking a 2-1 lead only to see the Lady Wildcats even things up again in Game 4. The home team got out to an early lead in the fourth set and picked up the 25-22 win to force Game 5.
The ability to get to a decisive set was predicated on several players.
"You look at the box score and this truly was a total team effort," Minnis said.
Junior Natalie Fazio posted a team-high 17 kills while senior Samantha Seal and junior Kiley Long each put down 15 kills. Senior Madison Morell registered 13 kills while senior Lauren Stahlman had 25 digs.
"Lauren played fantastic defense," Minnis said. "She was all over the floor."
All five of those Lady Wildcats were needed in the fifth set.
Nip-and-tuck the whole way, Plano scored the clinching point during a scramble at 14-13. The Lady Wildcats tipped the ball over and a Carroll middle blocker's attempted return went into the net.
"We showed flashes of this at the Duncanville tournament," Minnis said, "but I think this is a further example that we are capable of playing with anyone."
Plano will get a chance to emphasize that point again Friday and Saturday at the Texas Open in Allen. The Lady Wildcats are in a pool with Lake Travis, which went 50-0 last year and won a Class 4A State Championship before moving up to 5A this season, Eastlake and Grapevine.
"This is another great opportunity to see how the top teams look and go against some clubs we wouldn't normally see until the playoffs."
Plano opens with Grapevine at 10:15 a.m. Friday from Ereckson Middle School.
"We are focusing on several things right now, like the connections between our setters and hitters," Minnis said, "so we hope to continue getting better this weekend because that's what these tournaments are for."
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