Grapevine storms back to stun New Braunfels Canyon, advances to state title game
Robyn Wallace found her Grapevine volleyball team down two sets to none against New Braunfels Canyon during Friday’s Class 5A state semifinal.
But no one’s head was down.
No one was afraid of going home early.
“Super resilient group of kids,” Wallace said.
Her players did what they’ve done all year long, coming back to beat Canyon, 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-10 at the Culwell Center to help the program advance to its first state championship game.
Grapevine (22-17) will play 8-time state champ and 2-time defending 5A champ Lucas Lovejoy (41-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Culwell Center.
It’s a rematch of last season’s 5A state semifinal where Lovejoy won in three.
“It’s pretty much the definition of who we are and who we’ve been all season,” Wallace said. “Nothing fazes them. They get excited going into the fifth set regardless of what happened previously.”
Grapevine trailed 2-0 in the first round to Wichita Falls Rider, 2-1 against Amarillo in the regional semifinal and lost the first set to Canyon Randall in the 5A Region 1 championship.
“They just play the next point and forget whatever happened before,” Wallace said.
Canyon (43-9) had an early 2-1 lead in the fifth and decisive set, but points from Ava Shankle and Janet deMarrais pushed Grapevine ahead at 3-2.
The Mustangs extended it to 4-2 when Greyson Button slammed down a Canyon overpass. Canyon tied it at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before Grapevine scored the next five.
Alea Lastinger had a big kill and block and Canyon made a couple errors to give the Mustangs an 11-6 edge. deMarrais served up an ace and Button’s kill kept Grapevine ahead at 12-8. Lastinger and Sydney Engel helped make it 14-10.
“The energy definitely picked up at the end of the second set,” said senior Ella Davis, who finished with a team-high 25 assists and eight digs. “We really came together as a team and realized we had to go now. We didn’t have time to sit back and take our time. So the energy picked up and it was a good feeling.”
Canyon went on a run in the opening set to take an early lead, but Grapevine was able to respond and stay in the game. But the Cougarettes went up five and the Mustangs couldn’t quite recover.
After Canyon had a good start to the second, Grapevine led 7-6 on a Lastinger kill and later at 10-8. But a 6-0 Canyon run forced Wallace to take a timeout. Grapevine closed to within 24-20 before the Cougarettes won to take a 2-0 lead.
“We were not us in the first two sets,” Wallace said.
“This is who we are. This is what we do,” Wallace told the girls after the second set. “Trust the process. We prepare for this every day.”
Grapevine began to feed deMarrais more in the third set. deMarrais, who had a game-high 29 kills to go with 20 digs, is signed to play college at Missouri. The Mustangs used an early 5-1 run to take the lead for good. They never trailed again and got out to an 18-12 advantage. Lastinger and Button paced Grapevine late in the set to keep the team alive.
“We struggled in serve receive early, but we started to pass more in the third and was able to produce more offense,” Wallace said. “Defensively, No. 20, Kyla, is a good hitter. We made some adjustments on her. We made some adjustments on their middle and the free ball and once we were able to shut that down, we started to produce some momentum.”
Canyon looked to close out the match in four when the Cougarettes owned a 7-3 lead that led to a Grapevine timeout. But the Mustangs rallied again with a 7-1 run capped off with a Shankle solo block. Canyon used its own 7-1 run to take a 15-12 lead forcing Wallace to take her final timeout of the set. deMarrais put up a big block and Button’s block capped off a 9-2 run that gave Grapevine a 23-17 lead before closing out the fourth.
Lastinger had 17 kills for Grapevine and Shankle and Button combined for 15. Mikayla Ethridge chipped in 23 assists and nine digs and Engel and Helen Hood put in 27 and 17 digs, respectively.
“The experience is so different than last year,” said Lastinger, who played on last season’s team that went to the semifinals, but the game was at Coppell and not in Garland due to COVID protocols. “We’re able to have our student section come out. They show up and play a vital part. We just know we can get it done and we’re clicking so far this playoff run.”
Kyla Malone led Canyon with 23 kills and 19 digs, and Megan Hawkins added 52 assists and 17 digs. Canyon had reached state for the first time in six seasons and looked for its first state championship appearance since 2001.
Meanwhile, Lovejoy won convincingly against newcomer Manvel in the first 5A semifinal game, 25-14, 25-15, 25-11. It’s the program’s fourth straight trip to state and 12th in the past 14 years. The Leopards will play in the final for the fourth straight season and 11th in 14 years.
“Lovejoy is a solid team. They’re well coached, very disciplined and have great ball control,” Wallace said.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 4:44 PM.
