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Road-court Advantage: Lady Wolves sweep away Lake Highlands in bi-district play
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
DALLAS -- The volume of the Lake Highlands volleyball team's fanbase assured a decided home-court advantage in Tuesday's bi-district matchup against Plano West.
The impact didn't exactly translate to the scoreboard though, with the Lady Wolves capturing their first playoff win since 2009 following a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-13, 25-18) of the Lady Wildcats.
"It's been a couple years since we've been in the playoffs," said Brittany Bridge, West head coach, "and we don't have a lot of girls on the floor with playoff experience, so you never know how they're going to show up to play.
Requiring roughly half of the first set to adjust to the atmosphere, the Lady Wolves took charge after Lake Highlands knotted the count at 8-8 following a kill by junior Kelsey Kaigler.
West responded with a 7-0 run for a 15-8 edge that kept the Lady Wildcats' student section muzzled.
Another 7-0 run followed to close out the set, featuring two blocks that included West junior Kelly Bennett before junior Morgan MacGilvary belted home her fifth kill of the frame for the win. MacGilvary led all players with 10 kills on the night.
"I felt like one thing we did well tonight that we haven't done all year was block," Bridge said. "We really closed some blocks and put up some strong blocks tonight that we haven't been doing in the past."
That same offensive ferocity carried over into the second stanza and then some, with the Lady Wolves leading Lake Highlands by as many as 15 points.
Senior Shane Peters, revered as the Lady Wolves' defensive anchor, helped orchestrate a 9-0 run with her serving that paced a 19-5 lead.
"We've been working on [Peters] serve," Bridge said. "She has a wicked serve but it's just a matter of finding when the time is right to have her serve that tough. When she stands back there and wails on one, it's pretty tough to stop."
Regardless of the server, the Lady Wildcats struggled to adjust in surrendering 10 aces to West, with everyone from Peters to debuting freshman Briana Tulley getting in on the mix.
Four of those aces came in the second set, with Lake Highlands mustering a late 5-0 run to avert being held under single digits. Senior Brooke Coleman put the kibosh on the Lady Wildcats' surge with a set-deciding kill.
Defensively, the Lady Wolves limited Lake Highlands to just five kills in the set -- a figure nearly matched by West senior Katie Stebbins, who put up four of her nine kills in the second stanza.
"I don't know if we've beaten anybody, 25-13, all year," Bridge said. "Maybe during tournament season, but our district is so tough ... It's really nice to have a game where it's not completely tight so we can get that one out of the way."
Lake Highlands made the Lady Wolves sweat out the final set though, leading for the majority of the frame until an uncontested MacGilvary kill triggered a 5-0 run that broke a 16-16 stalemate.
Lady Wildcats senior Colleen Livingston contributed to Lake Highlands' rebound effort with four of her five kills in the last set, while senior Bonnie Vernon led the team with eight kills on the night.
It wasn't enough to prevent the sweep, with West capping the match on an ace by MacGilvary to mark a successful return to the postseason.
Advancing to the area round, the Lady Wolves will meet Rockwall-Heath on Friday at 6 p.m. from Wylie High School. The Lady Hawks swept Garland Lakeview Centennial in their bi-district match.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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