Arlington swept out of playoffs by Coppell

By David Thomas

dthomas@star-telegram.com

ABILENE -- For more than two months, no opponent had been able to find an answer for the Arlington volleyball team. But on Friday night in the Class 5A Region I semifinals, the Lady Colts were the team unable to come up with an answer.

Coppell ended Arlington's 17-match winning streak with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-13 sweep at McMurry University. The Cowgirls advanced to play Flower Mound Marcus in today's regional championship with a berth in the state tournament on the line.

"Our road to fame is passing," Arlington coach Sue Cauley said. "We run everything around that, and they took us out of our game. That's all you can say. We didn't pass the ball well, as we can do."

The Lady Colts (35-12) had their chances to take the first game. With a 5-4 lead, they scored seven consecutive points for a 12-4 advantage. Coppell (38-8) worked its way back into a tie at 21-21 before Arlington took a 23-21 lead. But Coppell scored the next four points to win the game.

Game 2 was tied at 14 until a seven-point run by the Cowgirls gave them control of that game and the match.

"I think if we had won that first game, it would have been a mental edge for us," Cauley said.

The comeback, instead, became a mental edge for Coppell, which also swept Arlington in August.

But that was a different Arlington team. That wasn't the team that went undefeated in district, Cauley said, for only the first or second time in her 24 years with the Lady Colts.

"It was an exciting year," Cauley said. "I'm definitely disappointed, but at the same time I feel like we accomplished a lot."

David Thomas, 817-390-7697

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