By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
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HALTOM CITY – Byron Nelson came into its playoff opener on Thursday ranked #1 in the nation by MaxPreps and 36-0 – only dropping a single set to three different teams.
But Mansfield Lake Ridge came out on fire – with a fury of blocks in the first set as the Eagles stunned the Bobcats 25-21 to take 1-0 lead.
Then Byron Nelson came to life.
The Bobcats ended up with the victory over the Eagles, 21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-11 in their Class 6A D1 bi-district opener at Thomas Coliseum. Despite the scare, Byron improved to 37-0 overall and extended its winning streak to 73 straight games. Byron will face Midland (35-8), who swept EP Franklin on Thursday.
The area round game will be played on either Monday or Tuesday.
Lake Ridge (28-12), which finished runner-up in District 3-6A and is under a new coach in Teresa Dunn, formerly of SGP, SL Carroll and Midlothian, came out on a mission with a large number of blocks against a very dynamic offensive attack for the Bobcats.
Blocks from Lailha Holley and Dawn Moore, and a pair of kills from Addisyn Allen pushed Ridge to a 16-12 lead. Moore, a Memphis commit, got another kill from the right side and after another block point, the Eagles upped their lead to 19-14. Ridge had at least five blocks for points and several more that were put back on the Byron side of play.
Moore capped it off with a kill on set point as Ridge was the fourth team this season to pick up a set on Byron – and the first to do it in the opening game. Ridge handed Byron its first set loss in the playoffs in nearly two years – since Nov. 6, 2023 against Keller.
The Bobcats rolled last year to a 40-1 record and won the 6A D2 state championship, 3-0 over Houston Stratford for the program’s second title overall and first since 2019.
Byron took a 7-3 lead in the second, but Lake Ridge scored four straight to tie it. Ashlyn Seay’s kill gave Byron a 10-8 edge and the Bobcats kept their foot on the gas. Dunn was forced to call two quick timeouts with her team trailing 19-11. Kylie Kleckner gave Byron 20 and then went off the block to make it a 10-point game.
Lake Ridge held the advantage in the first half of the third set with a lead of 12-9. But Byron clawed back and Seay’s kill off the block tied it at 14-all. Both teams went back-and-forth until Ridge trailed 22-20 to call a timeout. On set point for the Bobcats, libero Savannah Sterna made a nice diving save – Sophee Peterson set Seay, who was rejected at first, but the rally continued and Peterson went back to Seay who got the kill down to give her team a 2-1 lead.
Byron Nelson scored the first eight points of the fourth set and then had leads of 9-1, 14-5, 17-5 and 18-7. Seay led with 19 kills and four aces, and Kleckner added 16. Peterson ended with 51 assists, 10 digs and six kills. Seay and Kleckner combined for 36 digs. Kaitlyn Francis added 16 digs.
