State Champs...

After Wylie's 5-set thriller of a volleyball match to make the state finals the day before, it was a wonder how they could top the match they had just played. And, going into the game against #2 ranked La Grange, it was obvious that Wylie would have to play a lot better then they had the day before.

Once again, they came out looking good and winning the first game. Then the two team just went back and forth trading games. Back to another game five. It wasn't looking real good for Wylie from the start. La Grange would jump out to a couple-point lead then Wylie would reel them back in an tie the score. But, the Lady Bulldogs were never able to get the lead. Finally, at the 11th point Wylie took its first lead of the match. A few hitting errors by La Grange and key blocks by Wylie gave the Lady Bulldogs' the school's first state championship in volleyball, which they had only started playing varsity volleyball five years ago.

I've always said it is a lot easier to cover the winning side of the game than the losing side. And, after covering the losing side the past two seasons, this was certainly a lot easier to do, however, I wasn't sure it was going to happen until the final point. The good part about that, is I knew no matter the outcome the emotions were going to be running very high and there would be no shortage of great photos to be made.

State Volleyball Semifinals...

For the third straight year Wylie was playing in the state volleyball tournament. This year was different though. First Wylie was going in as the favorite, being ranked #1 all season long and the team that had beaten them, Lucas Lovejoy, had moved up to Class 4A. On paper this was the Lady Bulldogs' year. And second, the tournament was being played in a new venue in a new city. In the past the tournament was in San Marcos, however with F1 making its return to America in Austin, the state tournament was moved to the Cutris Culwell Center in Garland.

Wylie first game was against Argyle in the semifinals. On paper this should have been a pretty east match for Wylie. But, that's why they don't play the games on paper. Wylie came out pretty strong building a quick lead winning the first two games. Then things started to get tough they lost the next two games and went to a fifth set. Going 5 wasn't unfamiliar for Wylie who had had a 5-set match in both of their state tournament appearances. The problem is, both of their 5-set matches in the past they had lost. This time though, in dramatic fashion, and being only a point away from losing they were able to pull it out. It was an exciting match, to say the least.