Colleyville Heritage defeats Frisco Reedy to win 5A volleyball state championship
Three months ago, Colleyville Heritage began the season as the No. 1 Class 5A team in the Fort Worth-area. The dream of going to state and winning it all became reality on the final day of the season.
Heritage hit over 0.305 as a team as the Panthers defeated Frisco Reedy 25-14, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20 in the UIL Class 5A state championship match on Saturday at the Culwell Center.
It’s the Panthers’ (43-7) first state title in program history.
“I’m overjoyed. This is the work we put in every single day since the off-season with this goal in mind. It’s cool to watch them reach their dreams,” Colleyville coach Josh McKinney said. “It’s about them. To see them coming up under pressure and perform that way, as a coach, I’m just really proud.”
Senior setter Morgan Howard was voted state champ MVP with 51 assists and 17 kills.
“It’s a true honor and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” said Howard, who’s signed to play at Louisiana-Monroe. “They have supported me throughout the season and my career. Ella and I have been together since freshman year. It’s just nice to have that on the court. I can set it to everyone and I know they will get it over the net.”
Senior Ella Busey (Houston signee) had a game-high 21 kills and sophomore Suli Davis added 20 kills. Busey picked up the kill on championship point.
“I get the opportunity to see this day in and day out, but you can’t help to feel emotional on the sideline when you start to feel us getting there, we’re going to win a state championship,” McKinney said. “Seeing their looks on their faces and the joy they bring to each other, you can’t help to smile and be proud of them.”
“Colleyville is an offensive heavy team and it’s really hard to defend. You don’t know where the ball was going,” Reedy coach Katie Rudd added. “They played really well today.”
Reedy (28-14) was also at the state tournament for the first time and became the first volleyball program from Frisco ISD to play in the championship game.
“I’m so proud of these guys and proud of the way we fought,” Rudd said. “We definitely had some adversity throughout the game, but I feel like we never backed down. We kept going. Obviously we had more errors than they did and they’re a great team, but we continued to push.
“I was impressed on how our girls handled themselves on the court.”
The Panthers rolled through the first set while picking up 13 kills with only three errors for a 0.385 hitting percentage. Meanwhile the Lions were held to 0.083 hitting in the opening game.
Heritage scored the first four points of the match and then led 12-4 to force a Reedy timeout. The Panthers were first to 20 and continued to lead by eight. Howard hit Reedy with a setter dump and Colleyville led 1-0.
“With our first touches and Morgan running our offense, it’s really pick your poison. It’s hard to stop,” McKinney said. “We did that to start and we served extremely well. We were able to set the tone first from the service line.”
The second set was more evenly match.
Reedy shook off any jitters from the first set and gave the Panthers a fight. Halle Schroder blocked an attempt and the Lions led 12-9. Schroder led Reedy with 10 kills, three aces and 14 digs.
Heritage got kills from Air Force signee Reagan Engler, Busey and Davis, but the Lions continued to lead the set at 20-16 and 21-17. The Panthers pushed back and cut it to 23-22 on a Davis to Busey connection.
But Reese Miller and Reedy scored the next two points and Reedy tied the championship match at a game apiece. Miller had nine kills for the Lions.
Heritage dropped to a 0.244 hitting percentage in the second set, but the Panthers answered back in a big way with a 0.378 clip in the third set to grab a 2-1 lead. Miller’s block put Reedy up 6-5, but that was countered with a kill from Busey and Davis to give the Panthers a 12-9 edge.
A Reedy error made it 17-10, but the Lions went on a 6-0 run to cut it to a single point. However, Busey’s kill and a nice dig from Ava Ash helped the Panthers go back up four at 21-17. Back to back aces from Busey and a Maddie Bird kill off the block sent the Panthers to the win in the third.
“It’s such a change coming here, it’s a different vibe,” said Davis, who was Star-Telegram all-area newcomer of the year last season while at Nolan Catholic. “I wasn’t expecting it. The first day I walked in and just thought okay, it’s just school volleyball, it’s another year. Then I saw the team potential and said okay, wow we can go far. We’re a good team and I’m just happy to be a part of that.”
Busey notched up her 17th kill to give Colleyville a 9-5 lead in the fourth. Schroder responded with a kill down the middle and a Reedy block made it 10-9. A Engler smash in the middle block and an ace pushed Colleyville to a 13-11 lead only to see the Lions tie it.
Then Davis and Busey turned the heat up.
Two straight hard kills from Davis and a fourth ace from Busey gave Heritage a 19-16 lead. Reedy cut it to 20-19 on an ace, but Davis got kills 19 and 20 before Howard set up Busey for the championship-sealing kill.
“I was really excited. I just wanted to hit the crap of the ball. I knew it was the last point and I just wanted to get that kill and win a state championship,” Busey said. “It’s nice to be a part of a team where everyone is in it. I feel confident that I can swing as hard as I can and I have people that are behind me covering me.”
“On the bench, we were on the edge of our seat. Everyone is doing their job and you can see the fire from every single person on the court,” Engler added. “The moment we got the game-winning point, it was just amazing to run on the court and celebrate. It’s something I’m never going to forget.”
Ash and Davis had 16 digs each followed by Busey (13) and Bird (10). Bird chipped in six kills along with Lucy Cisneros and Engler added seven. The team served up nine aces.
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 5:18 PM.
