Garland Sachse - the same team which eliminated the Lady Tigers from the volleyball state playoffs a year ago - did so even more emphatically this time, winning 25-15, 25-11, 25-13 in a Class 5A area playoff match at Trojan Gym.
Belton, the No. 3 seed from District 12-5A, finished the season with a 16-24 mark. Sachse (31-11), the District 10-5A champion, advanced to meet tonight's College Station A&M Consolidated-Richard-son winner next week.
It was a struggle for the Lady Tigers to establish any continuity against the well-rounded Lady Mustangs.
"It just wasn't our night," Belton coach Justeen Patton said. "I didn't think it would be like that judging by the way we practiced and the way we walked into the gym.
"There was a way for us to win. We just didn't execute what we needed to in order to make that happen."
Sachse had quite a bit to do with that, thanks to the powerful attacks of Marissa Olivares, Adrien Richburg and Lauren Fox along with a solid defensive scheme that didn't allow the Lady Tigers to get a foothold.
twaits@temple-telegram.com
