The Bushland Lady Falcons can pack their bags and make their reservation to their home away from home in Garland.
The Lady Falcons are soaring through the UIL playoffs and that carried on during a three-set sweep of Region II champion Gunter during the Class 3A Division I state semifinals Saturday on the campus of Wichita Falls Legacy High School.
Bushland beat the Lady Tigers for the fourth time in the past six years and did it in sweeping fashion, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20 .
The tradition-rich Lady Falcons will now compete for a ninth UIL state championship since the doors opened in 2005 and the fifth under head coach Jason Culpepper. This is also the Lady Falcons seventh straight trip to the state championship game.
“It means so much to make it back to state,” said Culpepper, who is 307-30 in his eight seasons at Bushland. “Not a lot of teams get to enjoy a run that we’ve been on especially when you have a target on your back like we do. These seniors have been amazing and great captains for us. They are leaders, they step up and they put in the work and carried on the tradition.”
Bushland (39-5) will get a rematch with Goliad (41-5) for the Class 3A Division I state title which is set for 1 p.m. Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.
Goliad swept the Lady Falcons to win the state championship a year ago.
“We’re excited to get Goliad again, said Culpepper, whose Bushland team was making a 14th appearance in the UIL state semifinals. “We are very familiar with them and we know how good they are. But, now it’s are chance to get a chance at them and see if we can’t win another one.”
Bushland, which is currently riding a 19-game win streak, couldn’t have asked for a better start against Gunter (32-17).
In the opening set, the Lady Falcons jumped out on the Lady Tigers 10-4 and then 15-6 on the way to a 25-15 win.
In the second set, things got much closer. Bushland was in control up 20-15, however, Gunter rallied with five straight points to tie it up, 20-20. Berklee Billington knocked down a kill to give the Lady Falcons a 21-20 advantage. After the Lady Tigers took a brief 22-21 lead, Bushland went on a run led by a Jori Clark kill and then an unforced error to go on for 25-23 set victory.
The third set was similar to the second. Bushland went up early until Gunter tied it 18-18. That’s when Laynee Adams brought the momentum back to Bushland with a kill and the Lady Falcons went up 19-18. Moments later, leading 22-20, Berklee Billington used her powerful right arm for consecutive kills to pull Bushland to game point at 24-20.
With one final chance, Gunter was unable to make a comeback when a kill went long out of bounds and the Lady Falcons celebrated the win 25-20 as well as the sweep.
“We did a great job of serving the ball,” Culpepper said. “That got them out of system and gave us free balls. That led to a big first set and a great start to the second set. I thought in set two, Gunter did a good job of getting back in the game but we finished strong. I thought the same thing in the third set. We let them back in it but then put it away.
Charley Freeman served the last four points and added 19 digs. The standout Billington went for 15 kills and Laynee Adams had 13. The setter combination of Morgan Eberly and Jaida Scott did their job again. Eberly had 20 assists followed by Scott’s 18.
Photos by Joe Garcia III:
