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Best of the Best: A look back at District 8-5A volleyball
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
The past two years were a special time for the athletics wing of the Plano, Allen and Lewisville ISDs.
In joining forces under the District 8-5A umbrella, the schools of Plano East, Plano Senior, Plano West, Allen, Flower Mound, Flower Mound Marcus, Lewisville and Hebron combined for 28 UIL State Championships, many more state tournament or state meet appearances, a laundry list of all-state selections and an environment as competitive as any in the state.
As a way of paying homage to the past two years of district play, the Plano Star Courier will be running a retrospective series highlighting five of the best games played within 8-5Afor football, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, girls soccer, baseball and softball.
"This district could be a little overwhelming, but at the same time I'd rather have a district full of competition that prepares you for the playoffs," said Brittany Bridge, West head coach. "A lot of teams play a warm-up match before the playoffs where our teams never needed to do that because we had to prepare for each other every single night."
East head coach Steven Jones concurred.
"In that district, you didn't get a break," he said. "You never had a chance to catch your breath."
Within district action, rivalries breathed new life during both the regular season and playoffs, with all manner of all-state and Division I-caliber talent contributing.
Here's a look back on the highlights (in no particular order) of the past two years.
Plano East defeats Plano West and Plano Senior, 3-1
Oct. 28-29, 2011
It was perhaps the most unique twist to the rivalry between the Plano ISD schools on the volleyball court: a mini-tournament to determine the district's final playoff seed.
A Plano win over West on Oct. 25, coupled with an East win over Lewisville, created a three-way tie for fourth place in 8-5A with all three PISD schools knotted at 7-7. A play-in tourney was created to break the tie, with a coin-flip slotting Plano against East that Friday and the winner squaring off with West the following day.
"As bad as these girls wanted to show that they deserved to be a playoff team," Jones said, "they knew they had to earn it that weekend against Plano and Plano West."
In the end, it was the Lady Panthers who laughed last by dispatching of the Lady Wildcats, 3-1, Friday and then turning around no less than 18 hours later and defeating West by the same margin to claim the district's fourth playoff spot -- and city-wide bragging rights.
"Having all that energy and emotion spent against Plano," Jones said, "and then having to turn around the next day and go against a rested Plano West team, who is very good as well, to be able to generate that emotion again was very good."
Flower Mound Marcus defeats Hebron, 3-2
Oct. 25, 2011
Having already lost its first 8-5A contest against district-champion Hebron in five sets, and with the playoffs just around the corner, the Lady Marauder's district finale against the Hawks had an added importance.
But where Marcus dropped the decisive game in the first half of district, the Lady Marauders turned it around in the second half, rebounding a lopsided Game 4 to claim the match in five sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 17-25, 15-12).
"Having lost to Hebron in the regional finals and earlier in the season, it was a big match for us," said Cristie Liles, former Marcus head coach. "We've had a healthy rivalry with Hebron and even though we both had playoff spots locked up, it was still important going against the defending state champs. I think it kind of served as a springboard for us going into the playoffs."
Perhaps Marcus' experience in tight matches during the season was the difference.
In 2011, seven of the Lady Marauder's 14 district matches went the distance, with Marcus emerging victorious in five of them. The win also set the stage for another deep postseason run for the Lady Marauders. Marcus would also pull out a five-set win the playoffs, defeating Grapevine in the regional quarterfinals before bowing out in the Region I Finals against eventual state champ Coppell.
"We had so many close matches all season that a fifth set wasn't really a big deal," Liles said. "We actually went into those sets thinking we had the advantage and it paid off in the playoffs."
Plano East defeats Allen, 3-2
Oct. 11, 2011
The Lady Panthers found themselves in familiar territory, playing their third consecutive five-set match.
But no fifth frame played out quite like that mid-October Tuesday night against Allen, with 42 combined points in the final frame leading to a 22-20 East victory.
"To compete back and forth in a match like that was amazing for everyone," Jones said. "Allen is a very well-respected program and it was great to see the girls not let those emotions get the better of them and not back down from great competition."
Splitting the first four sets in eerily similar fashion -- Allen won its two, 25-23, while East won its two, 25-15 and 25-16 -- the two squads combined for 23 kills, 11 ties and two lead changes in the final set alone.
Kayla Burling posted 19 kills in the victory, including five in the fifth, and East's final three kills for a 21-20 advantage. An attack error by Allen's Camryn Freiburg, who chipped in nine kills, sealed the Lady Panthers win.
"It's one of the highest scores I've ever seen for a fifth set," Jones said. "It was great to be a part of."
East's Nkiru Udenze added 18 kills on the night, while Allen countered with a team-high 11 from Kelly Holden.
Hebron defeats Flower Mound Marcus, 3-0
Nov. 13, 2010
The dominance of the district was on full display when the Hawks and Lady Marauders cruised through the playoffs and into a showdown in the Region I Finals.
Less than a month earlier, Hebron was swept by Marcus in the district finale.
But behind dominant performances from Class 5A MVP Tiffany Baker and outside hitter Rachel Buckley, as well as the re-emergence from an injury by Olivia Okoro and stellar distribution from move-in setter Brittany Sample, the Lady Hawks cruised past the Lady Marauders in three sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-16).
"It was just an amazing performance on the part of our kids," said Karin Keeney, Hebron head coach. "I was actually talking at the coaching clinic yesterday about the match and what an incredible turnaround it was from getting swept by Marcus in the last match of the regular season. After that loss, we gave all of the girls personality tests. I think that kind of helped the girls rediscover themselves and find their confidence and chemistry. From there on, I was nothing more than a bus driver. The girls did it all."
Keeney said she never saw her team more focused, even at the state tournament.
"That was the strongest team I've had, hands down," she said. "And that was the best match they played."
Hebron defeats Plano Senior, 3-2
Oct. 7, 2011
In the 2011 Class 5A playoffs, Hebron -- the reigning state champs -- seized a two-set lead over Coppell only to see its lead vanish as the Hawks were eliminated in five sets by the eventual state champs.
But if you ask Keeney, the showdown against the Cowgirls wasn't even the most stressful match of the season. That would be the midseason battle against Plano.
Two sets in, Hebron cruised into a commanding position. But the Lady Wildcats remained resilient, storming back to force a fifth and decisive set before succumbing to the Hawks (25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 15-25, 15-12).
"That was the toughest match I had to coach all season," Keeney said. "I remember we got out to a great start and seemed to be on our way. But then here came Plano. It was a tight finish all the way to the end and we were just exhausted by the end of the match."
Keeney said Hebron had to make a key adjustment during the match to grab the win.
"We moved our middle blocker over to shut down their right side hitter," she said. "We took a shot at it and thankfully it worked out."
Justin Thomas and Kevin Hageland contributed to this story
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