Sports > Schools
Fearsome Foursome: Plano frontline goes on attack versus Wolfpack
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
It is possible to stop Plano Senior junior Kiley Long, just like it is possible to stop seniors Sam Seal, Maddie Morell and junior Natalie Fazio.
But stopping all four for a prolonged period of time is a more difficult proposition.
Plano West (3-1 in district) learned that the hard way Tuesday night as the aforementioned frontline players for Plano (3-1) poured on the pressure in the final three games for a four-set victory (23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-10).
"It is difficult to stop all four of those girls," said Teri Minnis, Plano head coach. "Especially since we spread the ball around so much."
Plano senior setter Audrey Landry distributed the ball expertly Tuesday with Long and Seal each registering 18 kills, Fazio making 12 terminations and Morell putting down 8 balls.
"You kind of have to guess who the ball is going to," Minnis said. "And Audrey does a good job looking at the defense, so if she sees the blockers going one way she will just set it up to the other side."
West head coach Brittany Bridge agreed with that assessment.
"They had us running pin to pin," she said. "And their offense moves quickly, which makes it easier to split the defense."
After splitting the first two sets, with each winning a game by two points, Plano asserted its will in the third.
Game 3 featured seven ties, the last coming on a tip from Long to make it 19-19. West pulled within one point on two occasions in the 20s, off kills by seniors Brooke Coleman and Katie Stebbins, but Long scored four of the final eight Plano points and the Lady Wolves hit the pin to finish it for the Lady Wildcats, 25-21.
"I feel like I had been a little shaky coming off my ankle injury," said Long, who also had 14 digs. "But tonight I felt a lot better about the way I played and we all really fed off each other."
The momentum gleaned by Plano in Game 3 rolled into Game 4.
Early kills by Long, Fazio and Seal as well as multiple blocks by Morell established a 12-5 Lady Wildcats lead that grew to 23-8 following a pair of Lady Wolves' hitting errors and additional kills from Fazio, Seal and Long, who also had an ace during the string. Plano kept that 15-point margin intact and finished the match via a kill by Morell.
"The biggest thing that disappointed me was that we digressed so much in this match," Bridge said. "We won a close Game 1, lost a close Game 2, lost by a little more in Game 3 and then got crushed in Game 4. We just stopped communicating and everything went downhill, which is disheartening because I feel like we were right there with Plano."
Numbers back Bridge up as Games 1 and 2 were tight.
Coleman, who posted a triple-double with 12 kills, 12 digs and 16 assists, started the match with a pair of aces. But Plano got its own spark from the 5-foot-6 Landry, who made a block and also dug a ball while crashing through her team's bench. That play forced a 10-10 tie and the score remained within five from there. West scored three of the last four points with the finishing tip coming from junior Morgan MacGilvary, who had 15 kills and was the Lady Wolves' primary offensive weapon the first two games.
Offense clinched the opening set for West, but defense played a part too with the block of senior Paige McKiddy and Stebbins, who also had 11 kills, slowing Plano.
"We didn't have a lot of put away blocks early, but we had enough blocks to set us up well," Bridge said. "And then our block was just non-existent in the third and fourth set."
That put a great deal of pressure on the West defense.
And while senior Shane Peters was often up to the task, with 28 digs, she was matched by Plano's Landry and senior Lauren Stahlman, who accumulated 15 and 13 digs, respectively.
West faced a 16-8 deficit in Game 2 before pulling even at 23, 24 and 25, but the Lady Wolves could never take the lead as a kill from Morell, two from Long and block by Seal accounted for Plano's final four points and a 27-25 triumph.
That was the first of three straight set wins and a 3-1 victory for the Lady Wildcats.
"This was an important match for us," Long said, "because we wanted to keep moving on and stay high in the district."
Plano, West and McKinney Boyd are now all tied for first place in 10-5A.
"This was a huge match," Minnis said. "We had that heartbreaking loss against Boyd and it has taken us a little while to get over that, so hopefully this win serves as a turning point for us."
West next hosts Plano East at 6 p.m. Friday while Plano travels to Allen at the same time.
But stopping all four for a prolonged period of time is a more difficult proposition.
Plano West (3-1 in district) learned that the hard way Tuesday night as the aforementioned frontline players for Plano (3-1) poured on the pressure in the final three games for a four-set victory (23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-10).
"It is difficult to stop all four of those girls," said Teri Minnis, Plano head coach. "Especially since we spread the ball around so much."
Plano senior setter Audrey Landry distributed the ball expertly Tuesday with Long and Seal each registering 18 kills, Fazio making 12 terminations and Morell putting down 8 balls.
"You kind of have to guess who the ball is going to," Minnis said. "And Audrey does a good job looking at the defense, so if she sees the blockers going one way she will just set it up to the other side."
West head coach Brittany Bridge agreed with that assessment.
"They had us running pin to pin," she said. "And their offense moves quickly, which makes it easier to split the defense."
After splitting the first two sets, with each winning a game by two points, Plano asserted its will in the third.
Game 3 featured seven ties, the last coming on a tip from Long to make it 19-19. West pulled within one point on two occasions in the 20s, off kills by seniors Brooke Coleman and Katie Stebbins, but Long scored four of the final eight Plano points and the Lady Wolves hit the pin to finish it for the Lady Wildcats, 25-21.
"I feel like I had been a little shaky coming off my ankle injury," said Long, who also had 14 digs. "But tonight I felt a lot better about the way I played and we all really fed off each other."
The momentum gleaned by Plano in Game 3 rolled into Game 4.
Early kills by Long, Fazio and Seal as well as multiple blocks by Morell established a 12-5 Lady Wildcats lead that grew to 23-8 following a pair of Lady Wolves' hitting errors and additional kills from Fazio, Seal and Long, who also had an ace during the string. Plano kept that 15-point margin intact and finished the match via a kill by Morell.
"The biggest thing that disappointed me was that we digressed so much in this match," Bridge said. "We won a close Game 1, lost a close Game 2, lost by a little more in Game 3 and then got crushed in Game 4. We just stopped communicating and everything went downhill, which is disheartening because I feel like we were right there with Plano."
Numbers back Bridge up as Games 1 and 2 were tight.
Coleman, who posted a triple-double with 12 kills, 12 digs and 16 assists, started the match with a pair of aces. But Plano got its own spark from the 5-foot-6 Landry, who made a block and also dug a ball while crashing through her team's bench. That play forced a 10-10 tie and the score remained within five from there. West scored three of the last four points with the finishing tip coming from junior Morgan MacGilvary, who had 15 kills and was the Lady Wolves' primary offensive weapon the first two games.
Offense clinched the opening set for West, but defense played a part too with the block of senior Paige McKiddy and Stebbins, who also had 11 kills, slowing Plano.
"We didn't have a lot of put away blocks early, but we had enough blocks to set us up well," Bridge said. "And then our block was just non-existent in the third and fourth set."
That put a great deal of pressure on the West defense.
And while senior Shane Peters was often up to the task, with 28 digs, she was matched by Plano's Landry and senior Lauren Stahlman, who accumulated 15 and 13 digs, respectively.
West faced a 16-8 deficit in Game 2 before pulling even at 23, 24 and 25, but the Lady Wolves could never take the lead as a kill from Morell, two from Long and block by Seal accounted for Plano's final four points and a 27-25 triumph.
That was the first of three straight set wins and a 3-1 victory for the Lady Wildcats.
"This was an important match for us," Long said, "because we wanted to keep moving on and stay high in the district."
Plano, West and McKinney Boyd are now all tied for first place in 10-5A.
"This was a huge match," Minnis said. "We had that heartbreaking loss against Boyd and it has taken us a little while to get over that, so hopefully this win serves as a turning point for us."
West next hosts Plano East at 6 p.m. Friday while Plano travels to Allen at the same time.
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