Colleyville Heritage volleyball falls to Liberty Hill in class 5A state semifinal
Colleyville Heritage volleyball’s playoff run came to an end in the class 5A State Volleyball Championship Semifinal.
Liberty Hill defeated Colleyville Heritage in four sets at the Curtis Culwell Center on Friday to advance to the state championship game. Liberty Hill will face Lucas Lovejoy (32-10) Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.
“You have to give credit to Liberty Hill,” head coach Josh McKinney said. “I thought they played great defensively. They really made us hit a second or a third or a fourth extra ball in rallies. Teams like that, they kind of frustrate you. Offensively, we weren’t as efficient as we’d like to be.”
Liberty Hill finished with 15 blocks and McKinney said they played well at the net. He said his team’s first touch created situations in which blocks were hard to avoid.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a team that scrappy so far this season,” senior hitter Maddie Bird said. “They were blocking a lot more than we’re used to.”
Colleyville Heritage, the 2022 class 5A state champion, snapped a 13 game win streak in the loss. McKinney said his team could’ve done a better job of finding ways to score.
Bird played well in the loss, tallying 12 kills, 14 digs and 4 service aces. McKinney gave Bird, who has been on varsity all four seasons, credit for a legendary high school volleyball career.
“This is playoff match number 21,” McKinney said as he started to choke up. “We wouldn’t be here without her.”
Outside hitter Suli Ane Davis, a junior, led the Colleyville Heritage offense with 22 kills on .203% hitting and also had 14 assists. Libero Sarah Mendoza led the defense with with 26 digs and also had 4 aces.
McKinney said Liberty Hill performed how they expected them to.
“I think it comes down to -- we could’ve executed a little bit better here and there,” McKinney said. “Turn one or two of those points that they earned into our points. That will make a huge difference.”
Liberty Hill starts and finishes strong
Colleyville Heritage was struggling to get clean attacks, relying heavily on tips and forcing opponent errors. At one point, Liberty Hill led 22-13 but a 6-point Heritage run lessened the damage.
Heritage’s momentum quickly fizzled and Liberty Hill secured set one 25-20 with a kill from Taylor Gaines. McKinney’s offense, however, had found a groove as the set ended.
“The tip was open,” McKinney said. “So, we used it. I think it was set location and our first touch. I thought we passed great in sets two, three and four after we settled in and got used to our environment.”
Set two was a back and forth affair, and Colleyville Heritage, eventually, came out on top. Bird had a 6-point service run, notching consecutive aces to power her team. Davis notched a kill to secure the set 25-23.
Colleyville Heritage’s momentum carried into set three and they won the first four points. They held a lead until Liberty Hill scored 6 of 7 points to tie the game at 16.
Liberty Hill and Colleyville Heritage went back and forth and were tied at 24. Evie Bruce gave Liberty Hill a 1-point advantage with a kill. On the next point, Liberty Hill’s Kealy Dirner sent an attack out of bounds; the officials called a touch and Liberty Hill won the set.
The Colleyville Heritage players were visibly disappointed with the call and the student section rained down boos.
“The point didn’t go our way but we still have a match to play,” McKinneys said, reflecting on his message to the team. “We can’t dwell on that one point. ... A point or two in the middle of that set -- if it was a little bit different then we’re not complaining about the ref’s call. Give them credit. They earned it.”
In the final set of the match, Colleyville Heritage never led. Liberty Hill jumped out to an 18-11 lead and a late 6 of 7 point run wasn’t enough for Colleyville Heritage to catch up. Liberty Hill won the state semifinal with a kill from Gaines, who finished with nine.
McKinney said Colleyville Heritage is a young team but that they’ll miss Bird. He said he is excited for the future of the program.
“We have a ton of talent coming back,” McKinney said. “I think we have a great JV team and freshmen team.”
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