In a mammoth Class 5A Division I matchup, the No. 1 Aledo Ladycats faced off against the No. 2 Highland Park Lady Scots in a state semifinal clash with the winner advancing to next week’s state championship match in Garland. In the end, Highland Park’s supersized front line proved to be the difference despite great fight from Aledo, whose season ended in a straight-sets loss by a final score of 16-25, 19-25, and 21-25.
The Ladycats (43-4, 12-0) amassed a program-record 43 wins on the year and did not drop a single set against district opponents. Earlier in the season, the Ladycats took down Highland Park on the road in five sets, but the Lady Scots were without 6-foot-4 junior outside hitter Allie Hudgins and 6-foot-5 senior middle Lydia Fisher. The twin towers complemented 6-foot-3 sophomore opposite Sarah Floyd well in this matchup.
In the face of a giant front line, though, Aledo battled, retooled, and made Highland Park earn their points down the stretch. Star senior Alyssa Todd kept Aledo within four points early from separate kill shots at 7-3 and 9-5. Aledo trimmed the deficit to four points later in the set at 15-11 following a kill by Todd and an ace from junior libero Karsyn Evans, and Todd used both hands to put away a free ball to stay within 16-12. However, Highland Park’s size came up big in a 3-0 run that pushed the lead to 19-12, forcing Aledo to call a timeout. Aledo was unable to pull closer than six points down the stretch of the first-set loss.
The Ladycats raised their intensity in the second set, scoring the first point on a kill by star junior Kaelee Berkley. After that, though, Highland Park rattled off four consecutive aces that forced head coach Claire Gay to make some adjustments to her backrow rotation, after she made a front-line tweak heading into the second set as well.
After adjusting to the service game, Aledo started to build momentum. Junior outside Payton Patrick terminated from the outside to cut the deficit to 11-6. Then, senior defensive specialist Kenley Hamilton had a rare backrow kill that trimmed Highland Park’s lead to 14-9. After that, the Lady Scots committed consecutive hitting errors that put the score at 14-11, forcing Highland Park to use a timeout. Aledo pulled to within two points after senior middle Karsyn Trott’s kill out of the middle cut it to 15-13, but the Lady Scots gained separation with a timely 3-0 run, and Aledo could not close the gap in the six-point loss in the second set.
Aledo challenged Highland Park closely in the second set, pulling to within 20-18 towards the end, but Highland Park punched its state championship ticket with a closing 5-3 run.
Todd led the Ladycats with another double-double of 10 kills and 19 digs to go with one block. Berkley finished with four kills and six digs while Patrick impressed with seven kills and four digs. Trott and Lily Morris combined for seven kills with the former tallying three blocks and the latter adding one block. Lily Lufkin anchored the front line defense with four blocks while Kailey Hamilton and Evans totaled 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Evans served the team’s lone ace. Hamilton also added 11 assists while senior setter Sophie Frank had 13 assists and four digs. Kenley Hamilton also chipped in with nine digs while Brynlee Schneider had two kills.
The Ladycats reached the state semifinals for the second consecutive season after falling to McKinney North in five sets last year. The Ladycats’ 43 wins are a school record as well.
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