It wasn’t easy, and Randall might have had its fans in panic mode for over two hours on Thursday night at Wichita Falls Legacy High School, but when it was all said and done, Randall escaped a gutsy Aubrey team in a five-set thriller, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 15-10, during the Class 4A Division II state semifinals.
The Lady Raiders (32-13) now advance to the UIL Class 4A Division II state championship game to face Wimberly at 4 p.m. Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. Wimberly (41-3) picked up a sweep of Salado in its state semifinal Tuesday, 25-17, 25-11, 25-22.
Randall looked to have this match on cruise control taking a 2-0 lead. Aubrey never went away grabbing wins in the third set and fourth set to force the decisive fifth.
In that fifth and final set, the Lady Raiders regrouped in a hurry going up 5-0 then up 10-5 before claiming the victory 15-10.
“In the fifth set, I thought we passed it well and served it well,” Randall head coach Karli Morrison said. “I thought we did that much better than we did in the middle of the game. We handled the pressure very well. Aubrey is very well coached and a very hard team that never beats themselves and executes. We were just able to pull ourselves together and play great when it counted.”
Senior setter Sidney Soria echoed her coaches’ comments.
“We never lost hope,” said Soria, who signed to play at the University of North Texas last week. “Even when they came back on us, we were in the huddle motivating each other and used the team chemistry we’ve had all year long to be there for one another.”
While Soria will make her third trip to the state championship, this is the first for coach Morrison in her 15-year career with previous stops at Levelland, Lubbock-Cooper and Weatherford. Morrison, a Dalhart graduate, couldn’t be prouder she gets to do it with Randall.
“This is an unbelievable feeling,” Morrison said. “I’m so glad I get to do it with this group. This group deserves it. Everyone thought we deserved to be here because this program has been the last two years. They don’t understand the reinvention of the offense and what we have done together. This is a new coaching staff and a new group of players. This is so special and I’m so proud of this team.”
For Soria, she’s motivated to return to Garland and step back on the floor for a shot at redemption. A year ago, Randall had a 2-0 lead in the state championship only to see Comal Davenport rally back for a five-set win.
“It’s such an exhilarating feeling to have a team that wants it as bad as we do,” said Soria, who has surpassed, 4,600 assists in her career. “This is such a different team than last year and with all the ups in the downs and adversity we have been through together, we are all willing to sacrifice our body to dig a ball up for that person next to us. I love every single one of these girls and I know we have each other’s back and I cannot wait to see what we do in the state championship.”