Volleyball: Plains sweeps McCamey for spot in Class 1A playoffs

There was every reason to expect an extended afternoon in the Permian Fieldhouse when McCamey and Plains met up to decide the third and final volleyball playoff berth out of District 3-1A.

Naturally, Plains made short work of McCamey, winning the elimination match 25-15, 25-23, 25-14 to earn a trip to the Class 1A playoffs in a result that was nothing like both regular-season meetings between the teams.

The teams split five-set meetings during the district schedule, winning on each other’s floor to boot — Plains closing out a victory 18-16 in the fifth on Sept. 26 while McCamey won 19-17 in the fifth Oct. 13.

But once the Cowgirls (9-15) rallied from deficits of 22-20 and 23-22 in the second set to stave off the Lady Badgers (12-13), the third set of the third meeting became a formality behind strong attacking by middle blocker Adriana Corrales and serving from Courtni Asebedo.

“I think our energy was higher and we were more ready to play this time because we really wanted to win,” said Corrales, who had 14 kills, three blocks and two service aces. “This is about as good as we’ve played. I don’t think we felt that much pressure and it’s just a really good feeling to make it to the playoffs.”

Plains advanced to face Water Valley in the Class 1A bi-district round at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UTPB’s Falcon Dome. It’s the second half of a doubleheader that starts at 5 p.m. with Buena Vista (18-12), the District 3-1A runner-up, facing Sterling City.

The Cowgirls simply got rewarded for staying on the attack throughout the match, finishing with 33 kills as a team to 15 for McCamey.

In addition to Corrales, Natalie Haynes had 10 kills and setter Hannah Crump had 27 assists to help keep the offense running smoothly.  At the service line, Asebedo had six aces and had 23 service points.

“We just actually hit the ball instead of just passing it over,” Plains head coach Cheryl McKinzie said. “Our hitters were on and we eliminated a lot of errors that we made other times. I’m definitely proud because we won in three.”

McCamey — which was led by four kills each from Britnee Taylor, Tashea Martinez and Chelsea Barrandey —  started off way slowly before its defensive tenacity earned leads throughout the second set.

But failing to stay in system offensively and not putting away leads late in the second set resulted in the end of the Lady Badgers season.

“We needed to win (the second set) to have a shot at it,” McCamey head coach Jason Inman said. “You can win the last three, but it’s hard. Our mental toughness is just not where it needed to be and that makes it really hard when you get in a hole and being able to dig back out.”