By Mike Waters / Contributor
ALLEN — Highland Park remains focused on clearing one hurdle at a time, even as the potential to make volleyball history draws closer.
The Lady Scots advanced to the Class 5A Division I state semifinals with a sweep (27-25, 25-17, 26-24) over McKinney North on Tuesday in the Region II final.
HP won its 24th consecutive match, including four playoff sweeps, as it heads into a matchup against Aledo (41-3) on Saturday in Prosper. Aledo defeated the Lady Scots (41-8) in a five-set nondistrict thriller in early September.
Tuesday’s triumph avenged a second-round loss to the Bulldogs (36-4) in the second round of last year’s playoffs.
“It was especially sweet in that winning this match came not only against the same team, but in the same building where we were knocked out last year,” said HP head coach Michael Dearman. “Much different this time around.”
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The Lady Scots started the match slowly, dropping the first four points and six of seven. However, they rallied to tie the set at 14-14. The two teams battled evenly the remainder of the set, which ended on an ace from sophomore Sarah Floyd.
“The team did not panic when we started out slowly,” said Dearman. “A trademark of this team is staying focused and poised. And we did that early on.”
The second set began with a Floyd kill, as HP never trailed. Taylor Toomay served back-to-back aces as part of an 8-1 Scots spurt, and a McKinney North long return ended the set.
Allie Hudgins, a Creighton pledge, closed out a back-and-forth third set with a kill as the Lady Scots rushed the floor in celebration.
“We did what we need to do,” said Hudgins, who finished with nine kills. “Great team effort. One more step toward our goal.”
Floyd turned in a dominating performance for HP, finishing with 22 kills, including 10 in the third set.
