Lake Highlands makes a statement in Duncanville
Written by Scott White Sunday, 17 August 2008
Over the years, the championship match of the Duncanville Tournament of Champions has typically offered a state tournament preview. Four of the last five 5A champions started the season by advancing to the Duncanville finals. Keep going back through the record books and you find much more of the same. If that’s the case again this year, we’re in for another treat in November.
Lake Highlands' Caroline Henton attacks the Amarillo defense during the Duncanville finals. (Photo by Lindsey Perkins)
Saturday’s championship match between Lake Highlands and three-time defending champion Amarillo was everything a championship match should be. It featured spectacular digs. Big stuff blocks. Crushing kills. Big plays by big players. And did we mention players flying all over the court, making spectacular digs while leaving a layer of skin on the court!
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS MVP - Tori Mellinger, Lake Highlands Outstanding Offense - Sara Shaw, Westlake Oustanding Blocker - Torri Campbell, Amarillo Outstanding Setter - Elly Barrett, Westlake Outstanding Libero - Kaleigh Wright, FM Marcus All Tournament
Maddie Hanlan. Arlington Martin Deirdre Pajaras. Coppell Alex Woolsey. Plano East Amanda Anderson. Colleyville Heritage Becky Bekelja. Clear Creek Madie Jones. Plano West Sarah Bullock. Allen Jenny Lawson. Red Oak Angie Morgan. Lake Highlands Kenzie Thompson Lake Highlands Micah Nolan. Amarillo Katherine Culwell. Highland Park any serious playing time.
The match was a classic showdown between old and new. When it comes to championships, two-time defending state champion Amarillo represented the old, having won Duncanville the last three years. The Sandies entered the finals having not lost a Duncanville match in four years. Lake Highlands, on the other hand, represented the new, having never won a Duncanville gold medal. When it comes to varsity experience, however, Lake Highlands represented the old, with 10 seniors and the core of last year’s Region 2 finalist back for another run at San Marcos. Amarillo, meanwhile, had only one player on the court (Torri Campbell) with any significant playing time on last year’s state championship team. Aryn Bohannon, the only other senior, has missed the first part of the season recovering from shoulder problems. The rest of the Sandies’ lineup features two sophomores and nine juniors. Only three of those players were even on the roster last season and none had
“We were expecting to win a few matches, but our main goal was for the girls to get exposed to this level of play and to see if we could start to bring their game up to it,” said Amarillo coach Jan Barker. “We certainly didn’t expect to get to the finals. I was really surprised, but I was pleased with how tough they hung in there all weekend. We had a lot of two-point games and close matches that we won and that impressed me.” Meanwhile Lake Highlands coach Cory Williams had a different goal, heading into the weekend. After all, the Wildcats started the season with state title hopes. “We’ve really been up and down,” said Williams. “Out goal was to get in front of this level of competition and play solid and stay focused.” Despite the gap in varsity experience, the championship match featured two teams that play some of the most frustrating defense in the state, led by terrific liberos in Paige Benton of Lake Highlands and Eden Williams of Amarillo. Here’s what we wrote about Lake Highlands in our High School preview last week: “Once again the team will play drop-dead defense and be a showcase of ball control which they will use to offset an overall lack of height.” If you were among those in the stands on Saturday, you know exactly what we’re talking about. And that sentence could have described both Lake Highlands and Amarillo. Lake Highlands had rolled into the finals with sweeps of Stephenville and a Tobi-Farrarless Arlington, a dramatic 25-16, 14-25, 25-23 win over Coppell and a very impressive 25-23, 18-25, 25-13 win over a young, but talented Westalke team. Setter Angie Morgan, one of the best in the state, has a lot of weapons in Tori Mellinger, Kenzie Thompson, Carly Dunkin and Rachael Zreet on the outside and middles Caroline Henton and 6-1 freshman Matalee Reed, who plays much older. And Morgan knows how to use them all. Amarillo, meanwhile, was . . . Amarillo. First the youngsters survived a 27-25, 23-25, 28-26 win over Plano East, in which East had numerous chances to put the match away but couldn’t. Then, after a sweep of Clear Lake, they came back twice from the verge of defeat to knock off a much bigger and more powerful Plano West team 28-26, 26-24. In the semifinals, again they repeatedly found themselves trailing Flower Mound Marcus, which became the latest team to learn that when playing Amarillo, a lead is never safe until the final kill has been buried. Yes, the names may have changed, but the intensity of newcomers like explosive little Micah Nolan, Neely
Borger, Michelle Russell and Sheridan Burgess is the same as it has always been at Amarillo. And then there is Campbell,an absolute terror in the middle. Replacing Brianne Barker is sister Danielle and Josalynn Wise, who were steady all weekend. Even with a higher state ranking (#4 vs. #7) and a much more veteran lineup, Lake Highlands coach Cory Williams prepared her team for what they were up against in the finals. “I told them not to get frustrated,” she said. “I told them that this (Amarillo) was a team that would stay with rallies and would play better defense than anything we had seen. I told them that they could not let down even if we got big leads. We saw them come back against West and Marcus and I explained to them that this is a team that is used to playing at this level and winning.” Apparently the Wildcats listened to their coach. Trailing 21-18 in game one, Amarillo tried to mount a comeback and pulled within 21-20, but Dunklin, Mellinger and Thompson shut that one down with a series of blasts and Thompson’s ace closed out the 25-21 win. Game two may have been the turning point in the match. Lake Highlands almost let one slip away as Torri Campbell led Amarillo back from 23-20 down to a 23-23 tie. Twice, Amarillo had the serve and a chance to take game point. And twice they served into the net, a problem that haunted them the entire match. Finally, at 25-24, Mellinger's soft roll shot from the back row gave the Wildcats a 26-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five championship match. Lesser teams, down 2-0 in a best of five after playing a full weekend of tournament matches in which you have been the team everyone wants to beat, might have folded at that point. But not Amarillo. Campbell’s crushing blow from the middle on match point gave the Sandies a 25-22 win and pulled them within 2-1. The game had been tied at 22-22, but Campbell had a stuff, Nolan added a blast into the Lake Highlands block then Campbell followed with the winner. Behind the offense of Burgess, Campbell, Robinett and Borger, Amarillo jumped to a quick 10-6 lead in game four and it seemed we were in store for yet another amazing Amarillo comeback. But Mellinger, Zreet and Reed would have none of that, leading an 8-1 Lake Highlands run that put the Wildcats in control. At 23-17, Amarillo gave it one last try as Campbell, Nolan and an ace by Eden Williams pulled the Sandies within 24-21 and they were looking confident. Williams, who had seen this before, called a timeout and gathered her players around. “I reminded them that all we need is one side out one time,” she said. And when Mellinger buried Morgan’s set down the line, they had the side out and the championship. “The difference was their passing,” said coach Barker. “This came down to a serve-receive match and they were just passing nails.” Williams agreed. “Or passing dictates how we do,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of 6-2 hitters who can just take a set eight-feet back ad bury it. Our passing determines if we can get into our offense. And I was very proud of the way we handled the pressure because we were able to run our offense the way we need to today.”
Clear Creek's Megan Pendergast tries to split the block of Pearce’s Rachel Thibodeau (12) and Elizabeth Wingate (14). (Photo by Lindsey Perkins)
Westlake takes third Westlake's young Chaps survived a tough three-game challenge from Flower Mound Marcus to take third place 25-21, 18-25, 25-20. At 19-19 in game three Marcus suddenly imploded and Westlake closed with 6-1 run to take the match. Five of those six points came on Marcus hitting or setting errors. Up to that point, Laura Lyon, Michelle Hundt and Kaitlin Samford had been an offensive force for Marcus while Westlake was relying almost exclusively on Sara Shaw for their offense. Clear Creek sweeps Red Oak for Consolation title Clear Creek rebounded from Friday's loss to Martin to sweep through the consolation bracket, the last a 25-15, 25-21 win over Red Oak in the consolation finals. Creek's tough serving, especially by Megan Pendergast, Rachel Hobaugh and Amanda Watson, kept Red Oak out of its offense the entire match. Meanwhile Red Oak had no answer for the offense of Pendergast and Cherish Krohn on the outside or Madeline Gaffney in the middle. "We've got to bomb our serves if we are going to have a chance because we aren't that big," said Clear Creek coach Scott Simonds. "I was really proud of the way the girls bounced back from the loss yesterday. It would have been easy to hang their heads, but they came back tough and we played much better today. To go 5-1 in this tournament is an accomplishment." Allen topples Plano West for fifth DJ Phee, Brittney Robers, Jordan Flemmer and sophomore Taylor Gross threw up a wall against the Plano West attack. Meanwhile Sarah Bullock led a relentless offense as Allen took advantage of West ball control problems to rally from a game one loss and take down their district rivals 23-25, 25-22, 25-17 in the fifth place match. Allen had advanced to the fifth place match with a 21-25, 25-23, 25-12 win over Martin in bracket play. Taylor Gross, Brittney Robers and DJ Phee had key blocks then Sarah Bullock delivered an ace and back-to-back blasts to close out game three 25-23 in a 2-1 win over Martin. Earlier, Plano West had to comeback to beat Coppell 19-25, 25-21, 25-18.
SEMIFINALS Lake Highlands advanced to the finals after knocking off Westlake 25-23, 18-25, 25-13 in the semifinals. Amarillo had the chance to win a fourth straight Duncanville title after twice coming back against Flower Mound Marcus for a 25-23, 25-19 win. The semifinals were a battle veterans vs. youngsters and Lake Highlands' vets opened their semifinal match on fire in game one, but almost let a 24-19 lead slip away as Westlake used a couple of Wildcat errors and blocks by
Shaw and Elly Barrett to pull within 24-23. But when Shaw’s blast from the last sailed long, Lake Highlands had the 1-0 lead. The young Chaps responded in game two as Shaw led a 6-1 closing run and Westlake evened the match 25-18, forcing game three. With Angie Morgan repeatedly turning to Mellinger, Reed and Thompson, Lake Highlands jumped to a 15-8 lead to open game three and this time they didn’t led the lead slip away. In the other semifinal, Amarillo taught yet another team that it ain't over 'til it's over against the Sandies. Flower Mound Marcus, a team that plays tremendous defense and has a well-balanced attack, led Amarillo 23-22 in game one thanks to the offense of Lyndi Johnson, Kaitlin Samford and Haley Neisler. But Amarillo closed with a 3-0 run, thanks to two Marcus errors and a game closing blast by Madelyn Robinett, to take a 1-0 lead. With Bailey Bunting, Samford and Michelle Hundt doing most of the damage, Marcus jumped to a 13-6 lead in game three and seemed completely in control. But sophomore middle Michelle Russell led an 11-1 that put the Sandies back in front and Torri Campbell then took over as the Sandies earned a return-return-return-return trip to the finals. The match featured spectacular defensive plays by liberos Williams of Amarillo and Kaleigh Wright of Marcus. Westlake over Highland Park Westlake had advanced to the semifinal against Lake Highlands by holding off Highland Park 26-24, 25-23 in a Saturday morning quarterfinal match. With Katherine Cullwell, Hannah Peterson, Laurel Pugilese and Tori Freeman leading the charge, the Scots gave Westlake all they could handle. In the end, however, Westlake had way too much Elly Barrett and Sara Shaw, who delivered the winners in both games and was on fire at the net, from the back row and the serving line.
Micah Nolan (2) of Amarillo drives a shot past Plano West's Megan Murphy (left) and Haley Wessels (4) during the Sandies’ sweep of West. (Photo by Lindsey Perkins). FRIDAY RECAP Three of the four semifinalists were determined Friday night and, yes, one of them wears black and gold. In one semifinal it will be Lake Highlands vs. Saturday morning’s winner of the Westlake-Highland Park quarterfinal match. Westlake advanced to the quarterfinals with a 25-22, 25-20 sweep of Arlington Martin. The young Chaps turned to veteran Sara Shaw whenever they found themselves in trouble and the 6-0 junior delivered repeatedly, keeping Westlake close in game one until Abby Howden and Jennifer Schuler led a late 7-3 outburst to put it away. With game two tied at 20-20, Westlake ripped off five straight points with Shaw pounding out the final four to close out the match.
Saturday’s first semifinal will feature Flower Mound Marcus, which outlasted Allen in one of the best matches of the day 25-22, 24-26, 25-19, against three-time defending Duncanville champion Amarillo. Yes, the names may have changed, but the Amarillo Sandies are still as tough to put away as ever, despite heavy losses to graduation. With Aryn Bohannon on the bench for a few weeks with a shoulder injury the Sandies were down to one senior on Friday. But that didn’t seem to matter. After an early morning scare from Plano East, the Sandies swept Clear Lake then turned in the biggest surprise of the day, staging another of their improbable comebacks to sweep LSVB #2 Plano West in the quarterfinals. Amarillo rode juniors Neely Borger, Madekyn Robinett and the lone senior, Torri Campbell, to a 28-26 in over Plano West in game one. Almost all of the West offense came from Madie Jones. Plano West rebounded and seemed in control in game two, jumping to a 20-17 lead behind the play of Rachell Bedell and freshman Laura Jones. And when an Amarillo serving error gave West multiple game points at 24-21, it seemed like we were heading for game three. But this is Amarillo it doesn’t matter if they are sophomores, juniors or seniors, you have to put them away if you want to beat them. West didn't and little 5-7 OH Micah Nolan and Madelyn Robinett led Amarillo back from the 24-21 deficit to a 5-0 finish and a 28-26, 26-24 sweep to advance to the semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Nolan was fearless against the big West block, giving Amarillo match point with a nice toss to the back corner then ripping a blast off the block for the winner. Lake Highlands earned its semifinal berth with a hard-fought 25-16, 14-25, 25-23 win over Coppell. After dominating game one, Lake Highlands couldn’t stop Coppell’s Mallory Cravens and Taylor Meade. The two 5-10 juniors led the Cowgirls to a quick 13-5 lead and they cruised home. Game three was a battle until, at 19-19, Matalee Reed and Tori Mellinger led a Lake Highlands rally. Sally Downs tried to keep Coppell close, but Mellinger took control and the Wildcats at closed out the 25-23 win and the Wildcats had survived their toughest test of the day. While Lake Highlands had blown into the quarterfinals with sweeps of Stephenville and Arlington, Coppell needed a comeback against Richardson Pearce, a young team that is definitely going to be a factor in the state 4A race this year. After dropping the opening game 25-16, Coppell rallied to take game two 25-21. But with sophomore RS Stephanie Holland and junior OH Elyse Burkert doing most of the damage, Pearce built leads of 14-11 and 1914 in game three. And at 23-21, they seemed in control of the match. But Taylor Meade and Mallory Cravens led a 4-0 Coppell finish to save the day for the Cowgirls. The match featured terrific defense, especially by dueling liberos Shelby Tamura of Coppell and Julie Olschwanger of Pearce. Highland Park advanced to the quarterfinals with a 25-12, 11-25, 25-16 win over McKinney Boyd in Friday afternoon action at the Duncanvile Tournament of Champions. Martin, meanwhile, had the look of an contender after sweeping Clear Creek with little trouble, 25-16, 25-20 in second round play to set up its meeting with Westlake. Meanwhile. three quarterfinals are set with Amarillo vs. Plano West , Marcus vs. Allen, Lake Highlands vs. Coppell and the Arlington Martin-Westlake winner meeting Highland Park. In game one, Bella Romero's blistering serves and big kills by Whitney Walls broke open a 17-14 game for Martin. In game two it was Walls on the attack and the block, with a lot of help from Kelsey English as Martin broke open a 14-14 game with an 8-3 run then coasted home.
Coppell's Sally Downs (3) attempts to block a tip from Pearce's Shelby Sullivan (10). (Photo by Lindsey Perkins)
RESULTS CHAMPIONSHIP Lake Highlands def. Amarillo 25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21 THIRD PLACE Westlake def. FM Marcus 25-21, 18-25, 25-20 SEMIFINALS Lake Highlands def. Westlake 25-23, 18-25, 25-13 Amarillo def. Flower Mound Marcus 25-23, 25-19 FIFTH PLACE Allen def. Plano West 23-25, 25-22, 25-17 Fifth Place Bracket Allen def. Martin 21-25, 25-23, 25-21 Plano West def. Highland Park 25-23, 25-23 Plano West def. Coppell 25-19, 21-25, 25-18 QUARTERFINALS Amarillo def. Plano West 28-26, 26-24 Flower Mound Marcus def. Allen 25-22, 24-26, 25-19 Lake Highlands def. Coppell 25-16, 14-25, 25-23 Westlake def. Highland Park 26-24, 25-23 THIRD ROUND Westlake def. Arlington Martin 25-22, 25-20 SECOND ROUND Amarillo def. Clear Lake 25-20, 25-15 Plano West def. Flower Mound 25-10, 25-12 FM Marcus def. Magnolia 25-21, 25-23 Allen def. Red Oak 25-22, 28-26 ----
Westlake def. Arlington Lamar 25-16, 25-19 Arlington Martin def. Clear Creek 25-20, 25-16 Highland Park def. McKinney Boyd 25-12, 11-25, 25-16 Lake Highands def. Arlington 25-13, 25-19 Coppell def. Richardson Pearce 16-25, 25-21, 25-23 ---CONSOLATION Championship Clear Creek def. Red Oak 25-18, 25-16 Third place Pearce def. Magnolia 25-14, 25-23 Semifinals Clear Creek def. Pearce 25-20, 25-23 Red Oak def. Magnolia 25-18, 25-16 Fifth place Clear Lake def. Arlington 25-19, 25-20 Arlington def. Keller 25-18, 25-13 Clear Lake def. McKinney Boyd 25-2, 25-22 Arlington def. Lamar 25-16, 25-22 Quarterfinals Pearce def. Arlington 26-24, 17-25, 25-16 Clear Creek def. def. McKinney Boyd 25-16, 25-15 Red Oak def. Arlington Lamar 29-27, 25-13 Magnolia def. Keller 25-20, 25-22 Arlington def. Plano East 25-22, 25-23 Pearce def. Summit 25-12, 25-14 McKinney Boyd def. Americas 25-17, 25-19 Clear Creek def. Northwest 25-12, 29-27 Arlington Lamar def. Stephenville 27-29, 25-20, 25-19 Red Oak def. Plano 25-18, 25-22 Magnolia def. Tascosa 25-17, 25-20 Keller def. Clear Lake 25-19, 25-11 Keller def. Flower Mound 25-20, 21-25, 25-20 Clear Lake def. Heritage 25-16, 21-25, 25-21 Plano East def. LD Bell 25-19, 25-17 Summit def. SA Central 25-23, 25-19 Americas def. Western Hills 25-13, 25-16 Northwest def. Pflugerville 25-17, 25-16 Stephenville def. Clear Springs 25-14, 25-17 Plano def. JohnHorn 26-24, 25-14 Tascosa def. Duncanville 25-22, 23-22, 25-17 Keller def. Cleburne 25-12, 25-17 Colleyville Heritage def. Midlothian 25-23, 25-14
BRONZE CONSOLATION San Angelo Central def. Pflugerville 17-25, 25-21, 26-24 SA Central def. Midlothian 25-23, 25-9 Pflugerville def Duncanville 25-23, 25-22 Midlothian def. Cleburne 25-17, 25-23 SA Central def. John Horn 25-23, 16-25, 25-21 Duncanville def. Western Hills 25-16, 25-21 Pflugerville def. LD BEll 25-20, 24-26, 25-16 LD BEll def. Clear Springs 25-20, 16-25, 25-18 Colleyville def. Summit 25-17, 25-22 SILVER CONSOLATION Plano East def. Colleyville Heritage 19-25, 25-19, 25-22 Colleyville def. Northwest 21-25, 25-22, 25-17 Plano East def. Plano 25-6, 25-16 Colleyville def. Summit 25-17, 25-22 Northwest def. Tascosa 25-23, 18-25, 25-16 Plano def. Stephenville 25-17, 25-11 Plano East def. Americas 25-6, 25-16 Plano East def.Flower Mound 25-21, 25-20 ======== FIRST ROUND Amarillo def. Plano East 27-25, 23-25, 28-26 Clear Lake def. LD Bell 25-19, 21-25, 25-9 Flower Mound def. SA Central 26-24, 25-23 Plano West def. 25-14, 25-13 Magnolia def. Western Hills 25-11, 25-10 FM Marcus def. Americas 25-10, 25-18 Allen def. Pflugerville 25-18, 25-20 Red Oak def. Northwest 25-17, 21-25, 25-18 ---Westlake def. C. Heritage 25-16, 13-25, 25-12 Arlington Lamar def. Midlothian 25-21, 25-14 Clear Creek def. Keller 25-15, 21-25, 25-13 Arlington Martin def. Cleburne 25-11, 25-14 Highland Park def. Tascosa 25-15, 25-15 McKinney Boyd def. Duncanville 25-21, 25-21 JJ Pearce def. Plano 25-19, 26-24 Arlington def. Clear Springs 25-11, 25-10 Lake Highlands def. Stephenville 25-16, 25-16