St. Joseph falls in five-game heartbreaker at tournament
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SAN ANTONIO - Laurie Davidson and the St. Joseph Lady Flyers had dreams of receiving their TAPPS Class 4A state tournament medals on Saturday. Instead, they were presented medals on Friday after a tough-fought, five-game loss to Dallas Parish Episcopal at the Jimmy Littleton Gymnasium.
"This isn't the medal we wanted, but we can't say that we didn't leave everything out there," said Davidson after the 22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 15-9 Lady Panther semifinal win. "They were a great team and we pushed them just about as far as you can without winning. Every one of us played amazing and with heart. We just have to find a way to accept that we lost and move on with a smile on our faces. Our entire team knows that we had a great year."
St. Joseph finishes its season with a 27-6 record, including a district and regional championship. Dallas Parish, last year's Class 4A state champion, improved to 29-12 on the season and will defend its title against Tomball Concordia Lutheran on Saturday. TCL beat Fort Worth Christian 25-13, 25-18, 25-21 in Friday's other semifinal game.
"I could tell from the very beginning that these girls truly care about each other," said first-year St. Joseph coach Brian Froebel. "Across the board, they care about each other and this game and that's why we got to where we did. We can all sleep well knowing that they gave it everything they have and played one heck of a match. I can't be more proud of them."
Summer Brooks led the Lady Flyers with 23 kills, 31 digs, four aces and five blocks. Davidson supplied eight kills and four blocks, Sarah Tucker 12 digs and Tori Escamilla 15 digs. Kate Tucker led the team with 21 assists with Haley Oliver adding 18 assists and five digs.
In the Lady Flyers' 25-20, Game 3 win, it was Brooks who willed the team to the victory. She had kills on four straight points and forced the Lady Panthers to change their strategy to keep the ball away from her.
"Every game throughout the season she took it up another level," said Froebel of Brooks. "She did that again here at the tournament. She was playing with so much confidence and it was awesome to see."
St. Joseph was only two points away from winning the match in Game 4 with a 23-20 lead on the Lady Panthers. The team left San Antonio without regrets, but being in that position and ultimately dropping the game 25-23 was tough to take.
"We talked about it every day in practice about being consistent," Froebel said. "When this team has been up late this season they had a great side-out ability. You have to keep that pressure up but we weren't able to overcome a couple of good serves by them and it swung momentum. That's what propelled them to that win and then they took the momentum over into the fifth game."
Brooks, one of seven seniors on the St. Joseph team, was in tears after the game thinking about the end of her volleyball experience with this group of Lady Flyers.
"We have been a family for six years playing volleyball together," Brooks said. "We're leaving here knowing that we played a great game against a great team. We were right there but we just weren't able to push through at the end. I'll always be proud of what we accomplished."
