By Chuck Licata / Big Daddy Media
Don’t let Southlake Carroll’s loss to Allen in Saturday’s Battle For the Rock championship match fool you.
Leslie Jackson’s Lady Dragons lost to an Allen team that will be a Top-3 team in the state, per the upcoming TGCA rankings. The Lady Dragons themselves very well could be a Top 10 team when the rankings come out Tuesday.
Factually, SLC beat Ursuline Academy and Birdville to make it to the Battle For the Rock semifinals, where they met up with Highland Park. Michael Dearman’s Scots, already a strong squad, is boosted by move-in Allie Hudgins. Still, Jackson’s Lady Dragons beat the Scots for the chance to play Allen.
Allen (8-1 overall) may have beaten the Lady Dragons (7-1), 3-1, in sets but Jackson’s crew threw everything they had at the Eagles, losing by just two points in each of the first two sets (26-24, 25-23), then rallying from deficits of 8-3 and 18-14 to win Set 3, 26-24. The Eagles then powered out to an 8-3 lead in Set 4 and overcame any effort by the Lady Dragons to clinch the match, 25-11.
Still, there’s plenty of reasons to watch the progress of the 2025 Southlake Carroll Lady Dragons. Here’s three of my many reasons, in no particular order other than alphabetical:
- Layla Austin: Pick a nickname – The Rocket, The Missile, The Cannon, The Shotgun – for Austin. All of them fit Austin, the 5-foot-10 senior and San Diego State commit. Just be sure to stay out of the way of Austin when she goes up for a kill. Her kills are massive slams that take milliseconds from arm-to-floor. On one of her match-high 26 kills against Allen, Austin libero Campbell Sheffield fell to the ground and Allen coach Stephanie Poole turned away quickly to avoid contact. Fortunately for both of them, the ball landed between them – but you knew the dangerous result if the ball had hit either one. Personally, I’m good with calling Austin “The Cannon.”
- Head Coach Leslie Jackson: If you’ve never watched Jackson coach a match, you need to do it. The SLC mentor is very intense, even when she’s on the sidelines coaching her varsity squad. But what makes her fun to watch is her analytical mind. As she watches her team play, you can see her analyzing every single serve, hit, swing, dig and movement. She’s very even-keel as the match goes on, whether her team is winning or losing. I’ve been told I have that same kind of analytical mind – although I’ll admit Jackson is probably a lot smarter than me. But watching Jackson break down every aspect a match in her head as that match goes on is enjoyable.
- Kinsley Young: I gave Young the nickname “Monster In The Middle” a couple years ago. The 6-foot-4 senior TCU commit is still the same force at the net as she’s been throughout her career. But she has not “sat” on her laurels – she continues to improve as an all-around player. To wit – she had several service points in the match against Allen. Case in point: In Set 1, Young stepped to the service line with her team trailing 8-3. About 10 minutes later, Young served an ace in an 8-0 run to help the Lady Dragons take an 11-7 lead. Young served that entire 8-0 run and, as stated, served well throughout the match.
In the match to Allen, Austin added a block-assist to her match-high 26 kills. Young had the one ace and hammered nine kills; she also had a solo block and three block-assists. Other contributors included Audree Hughes (seven kills and one block-assist); Teddy-Raye Ewers (seven kills and a block-assist); Charlise Smith (six kills and two block-assists); Abby Huddleston (two kills and two block-assists); and, Emma Eyster (one kill and one ace).
