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Prairiland shows versatility in playoff win
By Brent Wilburn
The Paris News
Published November 6, 2009
BONHAM — Prairiland’s Lady Patriot volleyball team succeeded in several ways in Thursday night’s area round playoff match.
The Lady Patriots pulled away late in a game, came from behind to win a game and eeked out a win in a game.
They displayed their ability to claim game wins in virtually every way. But the most important result for the Prairiland squad is that it combined those to make one victory that will allow the players to take the court at least one more time this season.
Prairiland claimed a 25-20, 25-21, 27-25 triumph over the Pilot Point Lady Cats in Bonham High School’s Warrior Gym. The next step for the Lady Patriots (32-10) will be a match in the regional quarterfinal round against either Aubrey or Bells on Monday or Tuesday. The Aubrey/Bells match is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Whitesboro High School.
The various methods the Lady Patriots used to dispose of the Lady Cats (18-22), who entered the postseason as the third-place team from District 10-2A, impressed Prairiland head coach Brandon Oats the most.
Prairiland used a late surge to pull out a victory in Game 1, made a six-point comeback to win Game 2 and used three kill shots by Sara Beth Upchurch to edge Pilot Point in Game 3.
“It shows a lot of character about those girls right there,” said Oats, whose Lady Patriots returned to the win column in the postseason after falling to Aubrey in the area round a season ago. “They came to play and our defense stood out tonight, I believe.”
Upchurch was a key player for Prairiland early in the match, as she had three service aces and two kills in Game 1.
She added another kill in Game 2 before being helped off the court after suffering an injury to her ankle. Her ankle was taped and she came back on the court nine plays later and finished the match with eight kills.
“It shows the heart and determination that she has. Even though she kind of rolled that ankle, she wanted to be in there,” Oats said before detailing even more injuries on his squad. “I’m playing with five hurt girls right now. There’s a lot of dedication that these girls put forth and they want to be out there, hurt or not.”
Neither side showed signs of injuries early in the match, as the lead wavered throughout Game 1. Prairiland nabbed the first point of the match after a Pilot Point player hit the ball out of bounds. The Lady Cats then took the next two points before Prairiland regained the lead after a kill by Brittany Black and back-to-back service aces by Upchurch.
Later in the game, with the score tied at 17, Prairiland took advantage of errors by the Lady Cats and used a service ace by Kelsey Klingler and a kill by Upchurch to score seven of the game’s final 10 points.
Game 2 featured a rocky start for Prairiland. Cameryn Weitzel had three service errors and Abby Watson had a kill to aid Pilot Point in racing to an early 6-1 lead. Pilot Point increased its lead to 9-3 before the Lady Patriots rallied to take a 16-15 advantage and eventually won the game. It was capped by a crafty kill by Kaylee Oats.
“I take some of the blame for that second game,” coach Oats said. “I tried to play a match-up game with them and tried to move some girls around, but it didn’t work. The girls kind of doubted themselves at first, but they pulled together, got strong and won the game.”
It was Prairiland that led by as many as six points in Game 3 before Pilot Point caused a few tense moments near the end of the game. Upchurch delivered the Lady Patriots’ final three kills to close the match and to aid Prairiland in advancing to the next round of the playoffs.
Kelti Mowery was Prairiland’s leader in kill shots with 11 and had 19 defensive digs. Taylor Skidmore added eight kills. Black had four. Klingler had 10 assists and Courtney Daniel had nine assists.
Pilot Point was led in kills by Watson, who had 11. Weitzel added six, while Rachel Fritz contributed with five.
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