Reaching the Region I quarterfinal round to face Marcus, the Lady Dragons equaled their furthest trip through the playoffs in Class 5A, set last year by a heavily senior-laden team. This year, Carroll got that far with only two seniors playing, an injury that kept star senior middle blocker McHaney Carter out for the final weeks of the season, and a roster that included six sophomores.
But the way in which Carroll (32-12) lost to Marcus (29-16) is what really ruffled Stanfield’s feathers.
"If you take the first set, I think we made eight team errors and lost by three," said Stanfield, finishing his first season as the Lady Dragons’ coach. "In the second set, we made three hitting errors and won. I told them between sets, ’Girls, if you hit the ball in bounds and serve the ball in bounds, you’re going to win.’
"So what do we do in the third set? We walk right out there … make three hitting errors and get down 4-0," he said. "You can’t win if you can’t ball-control and our ball-control was poor."
It was Carroll’s third loss to Marcus in four meetings this season, as the Lady Dragons couldn’t capture a win against the Lady Marauders in their two district matches. Carroll defeated Marcus 2-0 at the Allen Tournament in August, then lost to the team in straight sets and by a 3-2 margin in district play.
This time, Carroll seemed within reach, but it wasn’t to be. Tied 21-21 in the first set, Marcus took four of the final five points to win. Winning the second set, the Lady Dragons trailed 4-0 to start the third one, but took a late lead of 22-20. The Lady Marauders closed out with a 5-1 run.
In the fourth and final set, Carroll was up 13-9 before allowing Marcus seven straight points in a 15-5 run. With their backs against the wall, the Lady Dragons couldn’t come back despite two points with Marcus at match point.
"We lose [the third set] 23-25 and we terminate eight points for them," Stanfield said. "The fourth set’s even worse. [It’s] one continual mistake after another.
"It’s just a bad ending," he said. "If you look at our win-loss record, it was successful … it was successful going into the playoffs, it was successful winning two [playoff] matches. But to finish like that wasn’t successful."
Carroll’s start to the playoffs was impressive, easily eliminating Keller Central, the No. 1-ranked team in the area by the Star-Telegram and the 5-5A district champs, in a three-game sweep (25-15, 25-13, 25-16) in the opening round Nov. 3. The Lady Dragons followed that with a five-set victory (26-28, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11) over McKinney Boyd (27-16) last Friday.
To advance past Marcus, Carroll would have made team history. The Lady Dragons lost to Plano West in the regional quarterfinals last year after holding a 2-0 lead that collapsed before their eyes.
After this season, Carroll loses seniors Carter, libero Jamie Harris, defensive specialist Rachael Sloan and hitters Rachel Moan and Megan Siebert. Key returners include juniors Olivia Miano and Sarah Mason, as well as sophomores Sutton Sunstrum, Caitlin Nolan, Kayden Cook and Janelle Jenkins.
Stanfield said his returners will begin preparing for next year immediately.
"They finished in this round last year and no telling when the next time they touched the volleyball was," he said. "We’re going to touch the ball tomorrow. They’re going to figure out what it means to work hard."
For this complete article, full Carroll sports coverage and Southlake community news read The Southlake Journal every Friday or online at www.southlakejournal.com.
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