It wasn't easy, but they're back again.

In their toughest match of the playoffs, McKinney Boyd edged past a strong Plano Senior squad in four close sets (28-30, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21) in the Region II-5A volleyball final Saturday morning from the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum at Sam Houston State University.

By beating the Lady Wildcats (33-12), the Lady Broncos (37-7) advance to the state tournament for the second straight year. The state tournament will be held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland Thursday through Saturday.

"The girls are thrilled," said Kelly Quinn, Boyd head coach. "I'm so happy for my team, especially my seniors. This is a special senior class with many of them on varsity since their freshman or sophomore year. It's another great sendoff for their senior year."

Senior Kaley Seaber led the way with 25 digs, followed by senior Megan Mollett's 15 and junior Parker Shepherd's 13. Multiple Lady Broncos had double-digit kill totals, led by senior Krista Bukovec's 16, with Mollett and senior Kelly Koop contributed 15 and 13 kills, respectively.

Boyd has largely coasted through each of its previous playoff opponents, but was off to a rough start Saturday morning, losing a close first set to Plano, 30-28.

"We were up 24-23," Quinn said. "It was a battle, a kill here, a kill there. We were able to rebound. It was a hard fought emotional battle. I'm glad we were able to turn it around and refocus."

The Lady Broncos would regroup and bring their best the following three sets, but not without great resistance from a strong Lady Wildcats team, which scored 20 or more points in each of their three set losses.

"They're a great team with great players who gave us everything they had," Quinn said. "They have a fantastic coach and a great staff over there."

Quinn cites her team's deep playoff runs of the past few seasons as the reason for their tenacious turnaround after the tough first set loss.

"We had a few errors we know we need to eliminate, but we played hard and our playoff experience came out in this match," Quinn said. "That experience was key. The girls relied on their experience and it really showed."

Quinn is encouraged by what she saw from her team. Even when they were struggling, they were still able to persevere, putting the moments of turbulence behind them and forcing their best play to the forefront.

"We were able to win even though we weren't consistently clicking on all cylinders and that's a credit to the type of team we have," Quinn said. "We've had some adversity early in the season and we've really overcome a lot and we're stronger because of it."

Quinn said the Lady Broncos won't know for at least a few days as to who their first opponent will be out of the four-team field as UIL officials must first convene to set the matchups.

"They'll program the matchups by Tuesday," Quinn said. "They have to look at the records then they'll announce it."

Also joining Boyd in the state tournament is Coppell. Boyd lost to Coppell in the state finals last year. While the matches are currently up in the air, the Lady Broncos are eager nonetheless for a rematch, one that's ideally back in the state finals.

"They want to play Coppell again, that's for sure," Quinn said. "We'd love to have that rematch for the state championship. Our motto this year is 'unfinished business,' and to get that chance to finish it in that way would be really special."

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