WALLER — Tomball Memorial came in with a mindset that it was possible for Goliath to fall.
The Woodlands came in as a program with 11 consecutive trips to the regional tournament. The Wildcats had never been there.
Until now.
A historic season of volleyball continues for Tomball Memorial after a 21-25, 25-16, 27-25, 13-25, 15-11 win over the Highlanders Tuesday night at Waller High School.
The Region II-6A quarterfinal win for the Wildcats (40-9), tied for 10th in the Class 6A Texas Girls Coaches Association state poll alongside the Highlanders (33-16), continues a program-record winning streak of 19 straight. The team’s last loss came before an undefeated run in District 15-6A.
Tomball Memorial had never beaten The Woodlands in five previous matches, the most recent in 2019 in the area round.
The Woodlands’ season ends early this year after reaching the state tournament last year with a semifinal finish in Garland.
“‘Goliath fell is too kind’ is what I told them,” Tomball Memorial coach Sydney Lynch said of her team’s approach to playing one of the top programs in the Houston area. “We’ve got more giants ahead of us, and we’re just ready and excited for the opportunity.”
For Lynch, it was a special feeling to see the Wildcats reach the regional semifinals. They will take on either Wylie East or Royse City at 4 p.m. Friday at the Lufkin Panther Activity Center.
“I’ve been a part of every bit of Tomball Memorial school history,” Lynch said. “I’ve been the assistant since the first game. To reach this point and see the growth and everything this team has put in to accomplish this is everything to me.”
Tomball Memorial held a 2-1 lead over The Woodlands heading into the fourth set. The Wildcats collapsed there as The Woodlands rolled.
There were four ties and three lead changes early in the fifth set. Tomball Memorial went on a 4-0 run, capped by a kill by Avery Craig for an 11-9 lead. Sarah Odell put down the final kill, and the celebration was on.
“We went back to game plan,” Lynch said. “We had come away from the game plan in set four. I think we were defeating ourselves a little bit, and The Woodlands capitalized on that. We had a chance to regroup and go back to what we had practiced, what we had scouted.”
A 12th straight trip to regionals looked possible for The Woodlands early.
The first set was tightly-contested as the Highlanders and Wildcats played to nine ties with five lead changes. A kill by Mia Zepeda put The Woodlands up 16-15, and it never trailed the rest of the set. Zepeda put a block up to secure the set-clinching point.
Tomball Memorial shook off the first set and led wire-to-wire in the second. Avery Craig and Sarah Odell were key components on offense, while Hailey Ackley’s third ace of the set secured the win.
Intensity kicked up a notch in the third set, and when it was over, Tomball Memorial had the advantage.
After the teams traded points for a majority of the first half of the set, The Woodlands eventually got to a 23-20 advantage. The Wildcats rallied to tie the set, and it extended past the 25th point.
The Woodlands led 25-24 after a kill by Abby Lewis, but it was undone by three straight mistakes as Tomball Memorial went ahead a set.
There were five different ties in the early stages of the fourth set before the Highlanders pulled away quickly.
With Ella Lewis serving, the Highlanders went on a 7-0 run and that turned into a 13-1 run as the Highlanders went up 18-7 and moved to 25 points to extend the match to a fifth set.
The Woodlands started the playoffs well with a sweep of Davis last Monday. The Highlanders then played a classic with Cypress Ranch last Thursday for a five-set win.
The Highlanders will return its top hitter in junior Ella Lewis, who entered Tuesday with 584 kills this season.
It was the 20th consecutive playoff appearance for The Woodlands.
After a 21-24 season last year which resulted in a fourth-place finish and a first round exit to the playoffs, Tomball Memorial swept Cypress Woods in the bi-district round last Monday and then defeated College Park in four sets last Thursday in the area playoff.
The Wildcats have dropped just 11 sets during the current winning streak.
