35 - 6 District Champions Rated as high as 8th in State 5A

Lady Cats end the run - a fantastic run!

SA Times -A full diagnosis couldn't be made on the scene, but Central High School setter Regan Darby said she believed she broke her nose in a collision with a teammate in Game 1 of the Lady Cats' 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22 area-round playoff volleyball loss to Lubbock Coronado on Saturday. Darby suffered the same injury her sophomore year in the postseason.

"Coach Bozarth said it's a playoff tradition," Darby said of the injury, which kept her sidelined for just five points at the end of Game 1. Something more painful than a broken nose is also becoming a playoff tradition for the Lady Cats. Saturday's loss marked the third straight season Central lost in the second round of the playoffs. "We've always stopped this far in the playoffs, and I don't know why," said Darby, who was one of nine Central seniors to play their final high school match Saturday. "This team we had this year was really special." Central finished its season with a 35-6 record, the second-most wins ever by a Lady Cats volleyball team, behind only the state semifinalist 1984 squad that went 38-1. "I'm still in shock," said Central's Stephanie Starnes, a four-year letter winner who led the team in kills Saturday with 16.

Saturday against a Coronado team (28-13) that featured four college-bound athletes firing on all cylinders, Central dug itself a deep hole by losing the first two games. "We knew they could hit well," Central head coach Connie Bozarth said. "We had trouble blocking them. Our serve receive was not as strong as it normally is. Because we weren't able to establish our offensive rhythm as dominantly as we normally do, they were able to." The Lady Cats recovered to win the third game, and nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback in the fourth. Down 22-16 in that final game, Central went on a 6-1 run (paced by blocks from Kaitlyn Standard and Regan Darby and four kills by Starnes) to pull within 23-22. Back-to-back kills by Coronado's middle blocker Kati Dillard (a University of North Texas recruit) ended things.

"A point or two here or there was the difference in the whole match," Bozarth said. Lyric Ross tallied 14 kills for Central. Ashley Darby led the Lady Cats in digs with 17. Stacy Teston had eight kills and 12 digs, and Kaitlyn Standard had six kills, six aces and five blocks. Dillard led the Lady Mustangs with 20 kills. Texas Tech-bound outside hitter Brooke Smith had 19 kills for Coronado. "They had a lot of strong hitters that were really quick, so it was hard to defend against them," said Starnes. "Their middle was really strong." Coronado head coach Chad Jones credited a good scouting report on Central for much of his team's success Saturday.

"My coaches did a great job of scouting, and we felt like we knew where we could attack them," Jones said. "The girls did a very good job of executing the game plan. On serves, we went after the girls we felt were the weaker passers. We tried to hit some of their holes on defense. Then at the net, we tried to stay away from some of their better blockers." That coupled with some Central nervousness was all the Mustangs needed to jump out to the early lead. "I don't think we got loosened up and over our jitters until the third game," Bozarth said.

"We came out playing really tight. We felt the expectations of everyone wanting us to get past this," Starnes said. After losing the first two games, Central roared back in dominating fashion to win Game 3 only to quickly fall behind 6-1 in Game 4. It was a hole too big to fully crawl out of. "With two teams like this, it's all about momentum," Jones said. "Momentum just swung in our favor today. If we played them 50 times, I feel like we'd each win 25." It will be a long hill to climb for Central to get another crack at a second round playoff victory. All the starters for Central but Standard were seniors.

"All of our seniors were so good," said Standard. "Maybe we'll have other people step up to take their place. They are going to be a big loss." Gone but not forgotten. They go out as two-time defending district champs, who fashioned a 69-10 record over the last two years. "It's been a really big joyride," Regan Darby said, After the game, Bozarth told the team, "You are the ones the little girls look to now and say, 'That's the team I want to be like and those are the players I want to be like."

"They have definitely left their mark," Bozarth said.