China Springs tough in the playoffs for last four years!

[East TX]

China Spring tough in the playoffs for last four years.  They went to the State Tournament last season!

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China Spring takes out Taylor in 5-set thriller

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

By Chad Conine

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Not too long ago, the China Spring volleyball team had never won a playoff match.

Now the Lady Cougars are the team that thinks it is supposed to win when a playoff match goes to a fifth game.

China Spring outlasted Taylor, 3-2, in a regional quarterfinal match Tuesday night at Robinson High School. By taking the fifth game, 15-8, the Lady Cougars advanced to their third straight regional tournament.

China Spring (34-5) will play the Bellville-Bridge City winner in a 3A Region III semifinal on Friday at Bryan High School. The Lady Cougars, who advanced to the 3A state semifinal in 2006, are two wins away from again reaching that stage.

However, China Spring coach Stacy Meyers said her team has already overachieved.

“We’ve outdone what a lot of people thought we might do,†said Meyers as the China Spring fans and players exuberantly celebrated the thrilling victory over Taylor (25-8). “This team has got a lot of heart.â€

The Lady Cougars showed they also have a lot of nerve.

After Taylor rallied to win Game 4, 26-24, the China Spring players displayed steely resolve going into the deciding game to 15 points.

Lady Cougars outside hitter Stormie Elwood put down a kill to start the deciding game, then Karlyn Meyers and Kalie Ketner took turns setting up Jenna Dutschmann for a pair of kills. After a Taylor error, China Spring had grabbed a 4-0 lead and control of the fifth game.

The Lady Cougars’ versatile attack at the net kept up the pressure as Meyers posted three kills and Raylan Witten and Dutschmann had a kill apiece and China Spring surged ahead, 10-3.

By that time it was easy to tell which team had been to the state tournament the previous year.

“Until four years ago, we’d never won a playoff match,†Stacy Meyers said. “Now they expect to win.

“I think they just wanted it. They deserve to be here.â€

Karlyn Meyers finished the match with 20 kills and 18 assists. She was the difference maker at the net for the Lady Cougars as she kept Taylor guessing whether she would be hitting, setting up a teammate or dinking the ball into an open zone.

Ketner’s effective serving also played a key role.

Ketner served for four crucial points in Game 1, boosting the Lady Cougars’ lead from 20-17 to 24-17 and they eventually won, 25-18.

After Taylor won Game 2, 25-20, Ketner again served for an important four-point run in Game 3 and also served for the final point of the 25-19 China Spring victory.

Finally, Ketner started in the Lady Cougars serving spot and helped them grab the early 4-0 lead on the way to closing out the match.

[East TX]

Can anyone share some additional recent data/info(copy/paste?) on China Springs, Hutto, & Columbus. They will be the teams, along with BC that will be playing in the Regional Tournament tomorrow night and Saturday at Bryan High School.