By Randy Jennings / Contributor
For the second straight year, Hillcrest’s volleyball season was ended in the bi-district playoff round by a taller and more playoff-tested foe.
Mesquite Poteet swept the Panthers on Thursday in a Class 5A Division II clash at Ellis Davis Field House. Scores were 25-12, 25-19, 25-15. But the sting of elimination will not dampen Hillcrest coach Kinsey Palmer’s reflection on her team’s accomplishments.
The Panthers (23-12-1), champions of District 13-5A for the second consecutive season since Palmer’s arrival, made it to the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
“I’m really proud of the girls and the way they executed to take advantage of things we knew would be available,” said Palmer.
But Hillcrest didn’t have enough firepower to threaten Poteet, which advanced to the third round a year ago before losing to eventual state champion Frisco Wakeland. This fall, the Pirates (32-12) were runners-up in District 14-5A.
Seniors Kathryn Walton and Aubrey Norton led the Panthers in winners with four each. The second set produced Hillcrest’s best flurry and a good opportunity to even the match. Trailing 8-4, the Panthers reeled off four consecutive points to tie.
Neither team could separate and the score was still tied at 18. Consecutive missed serves spoiled Hillcrest’s chance to open a lead, one in the net and the other long. Poteet went on a 7-1 run to take the set with the decisive point a tip-kill by Kamron Turner off a set from Cylie Jackson.
In the opening set, Poteet took control with a six-point run on the serve of Madisyn Strong for an 18-9 advantage and finished the set with a kill from sophomore Miniaya White, who led her team with 12 kills, three more than do-it-all sophomore teammate Trinity Alsaid.
Hillcrest relied less on power and more on tips and finesse shots with some success, but not enough to turn the match in its favor.
“Our hitters struggled,” Palmer stated, “and Poteet had something to do with that.”
Palmer traces her team’s scrappiness to the practice time spent on defensive drills. Hillcrest overcame an 0-5 start to the season in which it won only one of the first 12 sets. When district play began, the Panthers hit full stride and coasted to an undefeated 12-0 run in defense of their 2024 crown.
The future looks bright for Hillcrest. Outside hitter Sophia Peabody is a junior and led the team in kills with a 3.1 average per set. Setter and assist leader Anna Albert is a sophomore; leading blocker Maia Tryon is a 6-4 sophomore; libero and digs leader Reese Kim is a freshman; and Ziann Johnson, the team leader in service aces, is a junior. Tryon has only been playing volleyball for two years.
