Volleyball

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Another Heartbreaker

West Comeback Ends Lady Dragons’ Stellar Season

By Zach Warner
The Southlake Journal

In building a 2-0 lead over Plano West in a playoff game Tuesday, the Carroll volleyball team looked ready to buy its ticket to Abilene for this weekend’s 5A regional tournament.

Playing with an impressive level of intensity and heart, the Lady Dragons looked primed to put their opponent away in Game 3. But things changed in a hurry.

Losing the next three, Carroll fell victim to the Lady Wolves’ unbelievable comeback (25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 19-25, 9-15) to end its season three rounds into the postseason.

Despite a heartbreaking ending, the Lady Dragons (35-8) finished a season that set new standards for a team that has become one of the area’s perennial powers. Carroll advanced further than it ever has since moving up to 5A in 2002, and the team’s 35 wins is a record for the program.

"Sure, we wanted to win a state championship, and that didn’t happen," said Wyvonne Walling, who has coached the team since its inception. "But you can’t base your whole season on what happens in the playoffs, because unless you win it all, you fall short.

"So we have to go back and look at the entire season," she said. "You can’t think of it all just in terms of the last game you played."

The Lady Dragons showed a fight and determination throughout the season that made a long playoff run look more and more possible. In the process, Carroll received the ranking of No. 11 in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. They also won a share of the 6-5A title in a district that included two other teams ranked in the TGCA’s top 25 (Marcus and Coppell).

Wanting to erase the memory of a first-round playoff loss to Hebron last year, the Lady Dragons used senior leadership and a deep roster to make it hard for teams to figure out how to put Carroll away. However, Carroll’s loss to Plano West (33-6) was unfortunately reminiscent of the Lady Dragons’ playoff collapse in 2007, when Hebron came back from two games down to win in five as well.

Carroll won the first game in convincing fashion, 25-19, then held off a fierce comeback attempt by West in the second game to seal a 25-23 victory. A defense that got to the ball and crisp passes and sets that allowed for strong kills marked the early wins.

But the emotional high the wins generated seemed to deflate in Game 3. Plano took an early lead that Carroll was unable to match, ultimately losing 25-16. Game 4 was a see-saw battle, with the Lady Dragons holding an 11-9 advantage before the Lady Wolves went on a 7-1 run that eventually put Carroll away.

With the teams knotted at two games, West took control quickly once again, building an 8-2 lead. Though the Lady Dragons cut it to a 9-8 deficit, Carroll could only manage one more point in the first-to-15 game.

"It’s that crazy momentum thing of volleyball," Walling said. "We didn’t really change anything up and they didn’t change much up. … If you go to that Game 5, it’s really anybody’s ball game.

Although it wasn’t meant to be, the Lady Dragons made their mark for the season. A team of nine seniors, including captains Sloane Sunstrum, Sally Johnsen, Rachel Zarazan and Kristen Duckworth, the team developed a penchant for winning (99 wins) ever since the first three and Hannah Herndon made varsity as sophomores.

"They’ll definitely be remembered as one of the greatest volleyball teams to put on a Dragon uniform," Walling said.

Read this article and full Southlake news at www.southlakejournal.com.