PHOTO: Matt Smith
BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
GARLAND – Making their sixth state semifinal appearance, the Decatur Eagles remain perfect at state after their sweep over Celina 25-17, 25-22, 25-18 in the Class 4A Division 1 state semis on Tuesday night at Culwell Center.
Decatur (31-13) takes on Bellville (44-5) in the championship at 6 pm Friday from the Culwell Center.
Bellville knocked off defending 4A champ Davenport in five sets.
The Eagles are 11-0 at state all time.
In a rematch of the 2021 state final, Decatur gave Celina trouble all night long. The game didn’t start until 9:45 pm – but originally scheduled to tip at 8:30. The first two games went five sets.
Trailing 3-2 in the opening set, Decatur scored six points in a row to take an 8-3 edge that led to a Celina timeout. But ace from Celina libero Paitlynn Martin helped the Bobcats scored the next five and even it at 8. But that was all the Bobcats can really do in the first set as Decatur rolled out to a 20-13 mark and Lilly Lowery got the kill on set point to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Back to back violations on Celina in the second set and Decatur was the first to 10 – leading 10-6.
The Bobcats cut it to 12-9 on a block combo by Selah Nickel and McKenna Paulson.
Celina continued to crawl back – scoring two in a row to tie it at 16-all.
But the Eagles stayed ahead and got a kill from Midwestern State commit Peyton Dickson to give them a 2-0 lead.
Celina finally got some control early in the third with leads of 7-5 and 9-6. The Bobcats went up three on another block combo from Paulson and Shaylee Stevens. The Bobcats continued to lead at 14-12 and then at 15-12 on an Aubrey Lambert ace. But following a timeout, Decatur tied it at 16 on the kill from West Texas A&M commit Gracie Trulson.
After trailing 15-12, the Eagles finished out on a 13-3 run.
Grace Fortune got an ace and Celina committed back to back errors to make it 20-17.
Decatur had swept Celina in 2021 for its fifth title.
Celina ends at 25-15. After going third in District 9-4A, the Bobcats reached state for the second season in a row and third in the last four years. This was the first year at Celina for head coach Cori Cate, who also had stints with Prosper Walnut Grove and Prosper High.
This is the first season at Decatur for coach Stormi Snider, who spent the previous nine years building up Ponder in a 3A power. Decatur also won state in 2020, 2018, 2014 and 2013.
