PHOTO CREDIT: MATT SMITH
BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
ARLINGTON – The Dragons got off 47 kills and hit 0.302 as a team, and Southlake Carroll eliminated District 5-6A champion Hebron 25-22, 25-20, 25-22 during their Class 6A Division 2 regional semifinal on Tuesday night at Arlington ISD Athletic Center.
Carroll, which finished third in 4-6A, is headed to the Region 1 final against 4-6A champ Byron Nelson, which swept Plano West on Tuesday night.
Senior outside MB Morse and star middle TCU commit Kinsley Young sparked the Dragons’ offense with a combined 26 kills and stellar hitting percentage. Young hit 0.600 while Morse hit 0.556.
Having already met once in August where Hebron beat Carroll at the Northwest ISD Classic 2-1, the Hawks came out strong with the first three points highlighted by a kill from freshman star and kills team leader Taylor Johnson.
But then the Dragons took over.
Morse got off a tip shot to help Carroll score the next five points. Young added a big swing to make it 6-4. Johnson got another kill and Cadence McDonald went off the block to pull Hebron within 8-7.
The Hawks regained the lead with a McDonald block that put them on top 12-9.
Three straight points and six of eight got Carroll back in front at 15-14 before Hebron got a kill off the block from Marley Rogers. Carroll started to pull away with two violations on the Hawks and a block by Young. San Diego State commit Layla Austin got a nice dig and kill from back line, and Young sent one down in the middle to get Carroll leading 1-0.
The Dragons started the second set on fire with leads of 5-0, 7-1, 9-2 and 10-3.
But the Hawks and made it 10-6 on a dump point by setter Kamryn Mullican. They got within 12-9 on a monster block by Haley Kerstetter, but it was answered by a block from Morse and Carroll went on a 6-2 spurt to grab an 18-11 edge. Young and Austin added kills during that stretch.
The Hawks scored five of six to cut it to 21-19 but after a timeout, Carroll scored four of the final five to lead 2-0. Libero Addisyn Kennedy saved a ball during the rally on set point and Vanessa Glenn was able to score.
Carroll continued to lead early in the third and was first to 10, but blocks by Kerstetter and Rogers helped Hebron to tie it at 11-all. Carroll scored the next three off a kill by Morse and then the lead was just 15-14 when libero Carola Moreno made a nice dig followed a violation on the Dragons.
Austin then made two great digs during another rally and Carroll went up 19-16.
But the Hawks wouldn’t go down as they scored the next three to even the game. But after a Carroll timeout, the Dragons, who were dominant after timeouts all night long, scored the following three points thanks to several blocks from Glenn, Young and Abby Huddleston. Carroll would finish it off to clinch the regional final berth alongside head coach Leslie Jackson, who is in her second season with the program.
Glenn led the team with 12 digs followed by Kennedy’s 10 and Austin’s 11.
Parker Tuttle led the way with 24 assists while Ashley Tam added 16 for the Dragons.
Rogers had seven total blocks for Hebron while the Hawks had three different players leading the team with five kills apiece.
