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The Sixth Sense: Lady Wildcats place highly at event in Allen
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Plano Senior volleyball continues to do a horrible job of staying under the radar.
Just days after defeating Southlake Carroll, the No. 1 Class 5A team in the state, the Lady Wildcats came away with a sixth-place finish at the Texas Open in Allen, one of the most loaded tournaments in the state.
"This is usually a tough tournament and this year was no exception," said Kelley Gregoriew, Allen head coach and tournament host. "There was some phenomenal ball being played over the weekend."
"Yeah, I saw Plano play a couple times," Gregoriew said, "and they looked really good."
Plano was particularly efficient in pool play as it swept Grapevine (25-16, 25-21), Eastlake (25-14, 25-18) and Lake Travis (25-19, 25-18). Though Lake Travis graduated several seniors, that win is no doubt a confidence booster for the Lady Wildcats seeing as how the Lady Cavaliers won the Class 4A State Championship and were the PrepVolleyball.com National Champions after going 50-0 last season.
Plano wouldn't roll into the championship bracket undefeated though as it lost its rematch to Carroll (25-23, 25-11) in the crossover match to close play Friday.
The matches wouldn't get any easier Saturday.
Beginning the championship bracket, Plano outlasted Amarillo, which is just a couple seasons removed from the last of its four straight state titles (25-18, 13-25, 25-21). From one former state champ to another, the Lady Wildcats faced defending Class 5A State Champions Coppell in the quarterfinals with the Cowgirls advancing (25-12, 25-18).
Plano's win-loss trade off continued for the remainder of the day.
Now bounced into the silver division, Plano advanced out of the semifinals by defeating Rockwall-Heath (25-21, 21-25, 25-9).
In a tournament that featured all six teams from 10-5A, Plano encountered its first district foe in the silver finals as it faced McKinney Boyd, a Class 5A State Finalist from last season. The Lady Broncos had been short a couple players earlier in the tournament due to discipline issues, but had some reinforcements in place by the time they played the Lady Wildcats and it showed with Boyd winning the match (25-15, 25-16) and the silver bracket title.
"We definitely came through when we needed to," said Kelly Quinn, Boyd head coach.
With the loss, Plano finished the tournament at 5-3 and in sixth place.
The Lady Wildcats got back on the winning track Tuesday against Arlington Martin (25-13, 25-15, 25-16). Plano may well see the Lady Warriors again this weekend as Martin (along with previously played teams like Sachse and Carroll, and district opponents Boyd and Allen) is part of the Arlington Invitational.
The Lady Wildcats begin play in their final tournament Friday at Arlington Lamar in a pool with Lamar, Birdville and Mansfield Summit.
Quartet of college commits
While Plano is focused on this season, three players from the team's senior class have already ensured they will remain on the court for years to come.
That's because right side Mackenzie Daly (St. Mary's), setter Audrey Landry (Northern Colorado as a libero) and middle blocker Maddie Morell (Nevada) have all made verbal commitments. Those commits trickle down to the Class of 2014 as well with junior outside hitter Kylie Long pledged to North Texas.
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