BROCK – In a Region I-4A volleyball area playoff match filled with twists and turns, the No. 23 Argyle Lady Eagles wrestled the momentum away from Brownwood late in the fourth set and did not relinquish it, ending the Lady Lions’ season in the tie-breaking fifth set.
The Lady Lions, fresh off their second straight bi-district championship, were unable to advance past the second round following Thursday night’s 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 26-24, 15-9 defeat.
“It’s tough to drop this match whenever the girls fought so hard,” said Lady Lions third-year head coach Allison Smith. “They were scrappy and it was one of the hardest matches I’ve ever seen them play. We had our opportunities and we just let it slip through our fingers. If we could do that fourth set over again, that would be awesome.”
After dominating the third set en route to a seven-point victory, District 6-4A fourth seed Brownwood (20-12) was poised to end the match and advance but got off to a sluggish start in the fourth. At one point, the Lady Lions trailed District 7-4A runner-up Argyle (29-12) by a 22-16 count when the improbable almost occurred.
Brownwood reeled off eight of the next 10 points and was able to pull even with Argyle at 24. The surge began thanks to three unforced Lady Eagle errors. Then, down 23-19, kills from Olivia Fowler and Jaylen Savage, followed by a net violation against Argyle, closed the gap to 23-22. The Lady Eagles grabbed a 24-22 edge but another Savage kill and a hitting error by Argyle evened the score. Brownwood’s rally ended there, however, as Argyle regrouped and claimed the final two points.
In the deciding fifth-set tiebreaker, the Lady Eagles quickly established a 5-1 lead. Playing catch up and with less points to work with, Brownwood got no closer than three points – the last of those times occurring on a kill by Savage that made the score 12-9.
“I’m so proud of these girls, I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Smith said. “I wish the season could have gone longer, I think we had the opportunity to make it go on longer, but it just didn’t work out. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
Fowler paced the Brownwood offensive attack with 18 kills followed by Savage with 13, Gracie Boswell with eight, Tessa Goodwin with seven, and Kylie Morris with six.
Kylie Wooten distributed 26 assists trailed by Goodwin with 20, while Morris and Boswell logged one apiece.
Fowler served five aces, three came from Goodwin, and Kassidy Wooten chipped in two, but Brownwood committed eight service errors.
On the defensive end, Morris led the way with 26 digs trailed by 22 from Fowler, 21 each by Boswell and Kassidy Wooten, 15 by Goodwin, seven by Kylie Wooten, five by Savage, and two by Ava Choate.
Savage and Goodwin registered three blocks apiece while Fowler and Morris were both credited with two.
Thursday’s opening set mirrored Brownwood’s performance in the finale of its straight-set bi-district victory over No. 14 Iowa Park on Monday.
Tied at 3 early, Argyle took control and led by as many as five points, 17-12. The Lady Lions began to gradually claw their way back into the set and eventually drew even at 22 on a kill by Fowler. Argyle followed with a hitting error, which resulted in the Lady Lions’ first lead of the night, 23-22. The Lady Eagles added another miscue before creeping within 24-23, but Savage delivered the set-clinching kill.
In the second set, Brownwood led early 7-5 after a Boswell kill, but Argyle fired back with eight of the next 10 points to seize control, 13-9. The Lady Lions trimmed the deficit to two points, 15-13, on a kill by Goodwin but the Lady Eagles responded with another lengthy run – eight of the next 11 points – to extend the advantage to 23-16.
Brownwood immediately regained the edge in the third set by jumping out to a 5-0 lead. The cushion then expanded to eight points, 11-3, following a kill by Fowler. The Lady Lions owned at least a five-point advantage the rest of the way to build a two-sets-to-one lead,
Reflecting on the season, Smith said, “We had a great pre-district, we did phenomenal in our tournaments, and we even went to the Argyle tournament in hopes of getting to see Argyle in the playoffs. But right before district we lost our momentum and never really got it back until the playoff game Monday against Iowa Park. And tonight I saw the team I’ve been dying to see. Even coming away with the loss I can’t take anything away from the hustle and how hard these girls played today.”
Thursday’s game capped the careers of Brownwood’s seven seniors – Fowler, Morris, Savage, Goodwin, Boswell, Harris and Kylie Wooten.
“I love my seniors,” Smith said. “Olivia has been our go-to player all year. Kylie Morris usually played on the outside but I made her go to middle blocker this year and she stepped up and did amazing. Jaylen was another huge middle blocker for us and she’s just a fireball. I’m exited to see her take off in basketball this year, she’s gonna do some great things along with Tessa, our right side and setter and another great basketball player. Gracie is a volleyball only girl and she can get you right in your heart. She’s a great volleyball player, so much fun to coach and she always goes all out for her team. Kylie Wooten, she’s our yes ma’am, a setter, and she’s such a perfectionist. And Ashlyn, that girl can serve when she gets going and is also a great setter. She was the battery for the team and took on whatever role you gave her.”
