The Lady Falcons have dominated everyone in their path in the playoffs so far and were able to do that once again during Saturday’s Region I-3A Division I championship game handling Peaster 25-11, 25-12, 25-17, at Colorado City High School.
Bushland (43-4) runs its impressive season win streak to 24 straight games, while winning 11 straight postseason matches in the process.
The Lady Falcons also kept a stronghold on Region I-3A winning their sixth straight regional title.
“Winning another regional title is a big deal,” Bushland head coach Jason Culpepper said. “The division split forced us to play some really good competition earlier and we stepped up to every challenge. I’m just happy we are healthy and playing with a ton of confidence.”
The Lady Falcons move on to the UIL Class 3A Division I state semifinals for a matchup with Ponder (37-5) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday back in Colorado City.
Ponder defeated Gunter in four-sets Saturday in the Region 2-3A Division I championship. Prior to the loss, Gunter had met Bushland in the UIL Class 3A state title game the past three seasons.
Reigning UIL Class 3A state MVP Mackenzie Sims had a huge afternoon for the Lady Falcons against Peaster. Sims made sure the offense flowed with 20 assists, played great defense with 15 kills registering a double-double and served the ball extremely well with five aces.
Teammate Ambree Hatfield was clutch at the net knocking down 12 kills to go with five aces of her own. Ansley Tiffin added 10 assists, and Avery Ramos was the leader of the defense thanks to 19 digs.
“We were outstanding on the serve against Peaster,” Culpepper said. “That gave us a lot of great opportunities on offense and kept them on their heels the entire match. We were able to play off that, so the serving was very key for us in the win.”
Vega’s dream season comes to an end at the hands of Windthorst
The dream season for Vega came to an end on Friday night during the Region I-2A Division II championship.
The Lady Longhorns ran into a very powerful and tradition-rich Windthorst team that resulted in a 25-18, 25-18, 25-23, loss to the Lady Trojans on Friday night in Childress.
Vega, a program that is only in its fourth year, made historical strides from winning one game when they started in year one.
The Lady Longhorns finished an incredible season 34-6 claiming the school’s first outright district championship and winning the first three playoff games in school history.
Despite the loss, senior standout Jaz Martinez left it all on the court for Vega finishing the match with nine kills and 10 digs. Addison Bidegain had 15 digs with four kills and Khloe Griffit was outstanding with seven blocks.
Windthorst (35-9), which will meet Crawford (42-5) in the state semifinals, were led by Megg Lindley’s 17 kills and 12 assists for a double-double. Teammate Isabel Bussey was stellar on the back row with 21 digs while adding eight kills.
Fort Elliott, Wildorado fall in regional tournament semifinals
Fort Elliott and Wildorado both took tough losses during the Region I-1A Tournament semifinals Friday at San Angelo Central High School.
The Lady Cougars were swept by Water Valley 25-23, 26-24, 25-20. The Lady Cougars, who were the District 1-1A champions, end the season at 19-8 overall.
Wildorado suffered the same fate getting swept by Bronte in the night cap 25-10, 25-20, 25-19. The Lady Mustangs end their year at 13-15.
