Plano East was enjoying some of its best volleyball in 15 years.
The Panthers won their first two playoff games – vs Allen and Highland Park – their first postseason victories since reaching regionals back in 2008.
But that run ended on Tuesday night vs 2022 regional finalist Prosper.
Behind Texas commit and All-American hitter Ayden Ames, Prosper won in straight sets 25-23, 25-22, 27-25 in a Class 6A Region 1 quarterfinal at Prosper Rock Hill.
Ames finished with 20 kills and seven blocks and hit an outstanding 0.514.
Reese Renfrow added 14 kills and Sydney Thornton chipped in five blocks.
Renfrow will join Ames on Wednesday for signing day. She will sign her NLI with Lewis University in Illinois. Thornton, who finished fifth in regular season blocks among DFW, will sign with Angelo State.
Prosper makes the trip to the regional tournament for the second straight season. The Eagles (35-8), runner up out of District 5-6A, will face 4-6A champ Southlake Carroll (30-12) at 5 pm Friday at Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City.
The turning point on Tuesday night came in the second set.
Plano East (32-13), which was co-champ in 6-6A, led 22-20 after a kill from Arkansas commit Lolo Lambert. But Prosper finished the set on a 5-0 run to own a 2-0 edge. Ames had five kills and two blocks in the set.
East led 10-7 in the third looking to extend the match, but Ames had back to back blocks as Prosper took a 12-11 lead. The Eagles led 20-17 before the Panthers scored three in a row to tie it. The game was tied against at 24-24 before Prosper finished off East.
