DALLAS – The Liberty Lady Warriors tripped early, but then ran Saturday into another state tournament appearance.

Liberty defeated Plano Prestonwood in the TAPPS 5A regional finals 21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17.

The victory propels the Lady Warriors into a semifinal match with Houston Northland Christian at 11 a.m. Friday at TCU in Fort Worth. Last year, Liberty won its first-ever state volleyball title.

On Saturday, things started off a little tight for Liberty.

“We had a few nerves, we dug ourselves a hole, fought back, and then let it slip away,” said Liberty head coach Lisa Deaver. “But we were playing well enough at the end of the first game that it really gave us a lot of momentum heading into Game 2. The girls responded really well.”

Liberty turned up its defense and attacks. Kelsey Woodall led the defense, with 16 digs on the night and 18 service receives with no errors.

As the Liberty defense stymied Prestonwood, the Lady Warrior hitters took over the match. Liberty’s Tally Blair had 19 kills and Whitney Hand added 16 kills.

Deaver said the big reason the team stayed cool after losing the first game was the play of setter Caitlin Reece, who had 38 assists and five kills. Four of those kills came on quick dumps over the net.

“She did a good job of keeping the team under control -- cool under pressure,” said Deaver, who was proud of the way her team reacted in an intense situation.

“Their crowd was loud -- our crowd out-yelled them,” she said. “It was a really loud, intense match.”

Borger d. Argyle

CHILDRESS – Borger defeated Argyle in an area playoff match that Eagles coach Clark Oberle said was an even match-up.

Borger and Argyle basically traded shots for four games before Borger was able to pull things out in the fifth, winning 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-7.

“It was a very close match, nobody ever got a very big lead over a long period of time,” Oberle said. “It just came down to we made more mistakes than they did.”

Argyle finished the year at 26-10 overall, 13-1 in district play. It was their second straight trip to the area round.

Bailey O’Brien led Argyle’s offense, getting 14 kills and seven blocks. JoJo Fletcher had 11 kills. Setter Jessica Bonfield added 31 assists.

The match was as close as the score indicated, Oberle said, with the teams slugging it out to the end.

“There wasn’t a turning point, we just kind of traded points all the way through,” he said.  Argyle will lose eight seniors this year, only returning four, but Oberle said he was happy with the experience those returning received.

“They learned from a pretty good bunch of seniors,” he said.

Wichita Falls Christian d. Selwyn

The Selwyn Unicorns rallied but fell just short in a TAPPS 1A regional match against Wichita Christian that went down to the wire.

Wichita Christian won the trip to the state tournament by downing Selwyn 25-23, 14-25, 26-24, 26-24 at Liberty Christian. 

“The girls really played outstanding – I couldn’t have asked them to do any more than they did,” said Selwyn coach Shane Sykes.

Katie Lybbert led the Unicorns with 21 kills, 18 digs and two aces. Setter Ollie Anderson had 31 assists, five kills and four aces.

It was a difficult but familiar ending to the season for the Unicorns, who have made the regional finals three years in a row but have been unable to get over the hump and get to the state tournament.

Selwyn’s Sami Matthews had 12 digs five kills and five aces, while Sarah Watt added five kills, 14 digs and five aces.

The match was so close, Sykes said, that two calls played a crucial role in the outcome. In Game 1 with the both teams in the 20s, the game official called a lift on a ball Selwyn had hit back over the net. In Game 4, a Selwyn player was flagged for hitting the ball over the antennae.

Sykes said he didn’t agree with either call.

 “Of course, that’s not the reason we lost, but, man, I did not agree with those. It was a heartbreaker for us,” he said.