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Big time Broncos: Boyd beats The Woodlands, one win from state tournament
By Mike Taylor, mtaylor@hcnonline.com
HUNTSVILLE -- McKinney Boyd knocked off The Woodlands 26-24, 25-23, 24-26, 25-18 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Region II-5A volleyball tournament.
The Lady Broncos will play Plano in the championship match at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on the campus of Sam Houston State University. The winner advances to the state tournament next weekend at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.
McKinney Boyd senior outside hitter Megan Mollett dominated from the start, finishing with a match-high 26 kills and 34 digs. She also had two aces.
McKinney Boyd closed out the match with five of the next six points.
"They had the momentum going into the fourth set," Lady Broncos head coach Kelly Quinn said. "Megan Mollett went back and scored a few points in a row. She really kept us in the game. I'm really happy with her performance tonight."
It was the second big rally for the Lady Highlanders (36-3), who trailed 20-12 in the third game. But then sophomore outside hitter Courtney Quinn caught fire, reeling off six kills during a 10-1 run.
The Woodlands finished the set and got back in the match on a kill by Madison McDaniel and a block by Rachel Reed.
"We had a chance if we could continue that," Lady Highlanders coach Leslie Madison said. "But I will give it to Boyd. They played great defense, they passed well -- they played pretty great. It definitely was hard for us to earn points."
Senior right side hitter Kelly Koop notched 11 kills for McKinney Boyd, and junior Lauren Petrisin added 10.
The Lady Broncos also got 32 digs from libero Kaley Seaber. Tori Turck finished with 17 assists and 19 digs, and Parker Shepherd chipped in with 17 assists and 10 digs.
"We served really aggressively and were able to keep them out of a system," Quinn said. "They were having to set from about 20 feet off the net. Any team can beat a great team when they're out of system. We did a good job of serving and maintaining our aggressiveness on our offensive side."
McKinney Boyd also had a comeback of its own to seize a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.
The Woodlands held leads of 14-11 and 20-16 before Koop -- one of seven seniors -- drilled three kills and the Lady Highlanders made three hitting errors as the Lady Broncos went up 23-21.
"You can't lose your mental focus in the playoffs," Quinn said. "This is the third time we've been to the regional tournament and I think our experience showed."
It was the last match for The Woodlands seniors Lauryn Altena, Jordan Lee and Maddie Slater.
Slater recorded 10 kills, three block assists and a solo block. McDaniel led The Woodlands with 15 kills while Courtney Eckenrode dished out 31 assists.
Quinn added nine kills, and Kelly Quinn had 29 digs.
"They have nothing to hang their heads about," Madison said. "It stinks ending on a loss, but they've done a lot of great things this season to get to this point. They should be very proud of themselves and the way they fought back in the match."
As for Boyd's upcoming opponent, Plano breezed by Kingwood 25-18, 25-20, 25-15 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Region II-5A tournament.
"My kids wanted Boyd to win because they wanted another shot at them," first-year Plano coach Teri Minnis said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow."
The Lady Broncos are 3-1 against the Lady Wildcats this season, including a pair of wins in district play.
"They've had our number all year," Minnis said. "We've beaten them once this year and all the rest of the games have been really tight."
Junior outside hitter Kylie Long led Plano (33-11) with 13 kills and 11 digs. Senior setter Audrey Landry had 15 digs and put the offense in great position all night.
Two other Lady Wildcats -- Samantha Seal and Lauren Stahlman -- finished with 11 digs. Madison Morell added three aces -- all in a row in the third set.
"We passed the ball pretty well," Minnis said. "We dug the ball, which kept us in a lot of plays. When we do that, we're pretty good."
Madison McClurg notched seven kills for the Lady Mustangs (31-13) while Kate Cegelski finished with 13 digs.
"I give Plano all the credit because I think that they played a great game, but I just don't think that we played well at all tonight," Kingwood coach Ashley Earhart said. "I think that we played timid, we didn't follow the game plan and that's what happened.
"I think it was a lot of nerves, but that's not an excuse because they haven't been here in a while either."
McKinney Boyd beat The Woodlands 26-24, 25-23, 24-26, 25-18 in Friday's first regional semifinal match.
Later, Plano held up its end of the bargain.
"Kylie Long played really well and my setter, Audrey Landry, she's our heart and soul," Minnis said. "She keeps us going and she keeps us focused."
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