It’s become a guaranteed staple for a near decade, and that’s the Bushland Lady Falcons winning a regional championship.
That trend rolled on Tuesday night, as the Lady Falcons erased an early deficit to defeat Peaster in four sets, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-14, on Tuesday night during the Region I-3A Division I championship game at Vernon High School.
With the victory, Bushland not only won its 17th straight playoff match, but the Lady Falcons keep their quest at a three-peat for a state championship on course, as well as punched a ticket back to the UIL Class 3A Division I state semifinals for a seventh straight year.
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“Every year is different,” said Jason Culpepper, who has took the Lady Falcons to the state semifinals in all seven seasons as the Bushland head volleyball coach. This is a new team compared to last year. We lost a lot and this team is very young. But we have been blessed to have great young players that want to work hard out at Bushland, and that’s what this team does. Last year was more of a business attitude, but this group is taking it all in. It’s been fun.”
Bushland (39-8) is now set up for a semifinal showdown with Ponder (30-12) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wichita Falls Legacy High School. Ponder was able to sweep Gunter in the Region II-3A Division I final on Tuesday, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19.
Peaster (38-13-1) jumped out on the Lady Falcons in the first set Tuesday and took a 1-0 lead (25-22). The Lady Falcons were able to regroup by taking control of the second set 25-22, then the momentum was all on Bushland’s side in the third and fourth set to put away the match.
Culpepper said it was the re-focus of his team and the balance that propelled the victory.
“We lost focus during that first set,” said Culpepper, who is now 241-18 all-time at Bushland. “We struggled and let some things get to us. We talked about it and decided to focus on what we do well and went on the attack. I thought the key was the outside hitting. We had outstanding play on the outside and that made it hard for their defense.”
That outside play was charged up by Berklee Billington and Laynee Adams, who combined for 26 kills. With Billington and Adams attacking on opposite sides, it flustered Peaster. Billington landed 13 kills on the night as did Adams. Bushland’s passing was also on-point. Morgan Eberly led a strong offensive showing with 33 assists followed by Jaida Scott’s 23.
On the back row, team leader Ava Permenter and Charley Freeman took care of the defense, totaling 50 digs. Permenter registered a game-high 33 and Freeman tacked on 17.
Randall comes up short to Eagle Mountain
Randall’s quest of getting back to the UIL state championship game for a third straight year came up short falling to a powerful Eagle Mountain squad in three sets, 25-19, 25-10, 25-10, during a Region I-4A Division II championship game in Sweetwater.
The Lady Raiders, the Co-District 4-4A champions, end a tremendous year at 29-15.
In the loss to Eagle Mountain, Amber Matthews and Chloe Brown combined for 20 kills, with each knocking down 10. Brown also added five digs. Kambree Gonzalez led the team with eight digs and Benett Moore handed out 15 assists.