Instead, the seventh-ranked Lady Eagles kept their momentum and school-record season rolling - and now they’re one win away from their first state tournament trip.
Led by captain Danielle Hazzard’s 14 kills, Salado marched past George West 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 in a Class 2A Region IV semifinal at Northeast Blossom Athletic Center on Friday.
“We watched film on them and we knew they weren’t that tall, so I just went in slamming it,” said 5-9 senior Hazzard, who also had nine digs and two aces.
Added Lady Eagles coach Bree Holz-Gonzales: “She usually is our leading hitter, but she did a really good job of keeping everything under control. She saw the splits and blocks really well and was pulling off the blocks getting a lot of points like that, too.”
Salado (36-5), which shared the District 25-2A championship with Rogers, defeated No. 25 Weimar, three-time champion and No. 12 Poth and No. 3 Hallettsville in the first three rounds.
Only Wallis Brazos (32-10), which beat No. 10 Vanderbilt Industrial in four games in Friday’s second semifinal, can deny the Lady Eagles their first state tournament berth when the two schools meet at 11 p.m. today at the same site for the Region IV championship.
Salado also will try to deny Brazos the 25-2A sweep. The Cougarettes have eliminated Academy and Rogers during their playoff run.
“After beating those top teams, we know we can do it,” Hazzard said about the team’s confidence level. “If we work as a team, we know we can do it and beat anybody.”
Behind the serving of sophomore Brittney Frazier, Salado pulled away in Game 1.
With Salado up 16-12, Frazier’s serving keyed a 7-0 run. Jenna Sebek (seven kills, nine digs) had two kills, Hazzard had one and Brennan Boydstun added another, and Lady Longhorns (23-11) committed three errors to give the Lady Eagles a 23-12 lead on their way to an easy win.
“It (the 7-0 run) was huge because it showed that we kind of just relaxed,” Holz-Gonzales said. “For a while we were trading point for point, and then when she (Frazier) got up and served, she got us a little run and we were like, ‘OK, we’re relaxed. The jitters are gone. Let’s just play now.’”
Hazzard pounded three kills as Salado jumped out to a 10-4 lead in Game 2. Leading 13-11, the Lady Eagles went on a 10-3 run capped by consecutive kills from Hazzard for a 23-14 lead on their way to a 2-0 advantage.
Behind Sebek and Camryn Bintz (six kills, two blocks), Salado quickly went up 16-9, then pushed its lead to 24-17 when a George West defender couldn’t handle Hazzard’s serve.
But five straight Lady Longhorn points prompted Holz-Gonzales to call her only timeout of the match.
“(I told them) ‘try not to do too much,’” she said. “‘Just keep it simple,’ and finally we got that last point.”
Senior libero Lindsey Coffey dug the serve and senior setter Kaitlyn Ruth fed Bintz to complete the match.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
