Two McKinney ISD volleyball teams walked into the Curtis Culwell Center on Tuesday night needing one more win to reach the state semifinals. Both walked out with their seasons over, and the two exits could hardly have looked more different.
McKinney Boyd pushed top-ranked Allen deep into a fourth set before falling 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 27-25 in the Class 6A Division I Region I final. Later that night on the same floor in Garland, McKinney North ran into defending 5A Division I state champion Highland Park and lost 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 in the Region II final.
Boyd's fight to the last point
Boyd had already beaten Allen once this season, in an August tournament match, before losing both District 6-6A meetings. The fourth meeting started the same way the district games had, with the Eagles taking the first two sets.
Then Boyd took over. The Broncos built a 15-4 lead in the third set behind a run of kills from senior Ryan Spencer, The Dallas Morning News reported, the biggest hole Allen coach Stephanie Poole said she could remember her team facing all season. Boyd closed the set out to force a fourth.
The fourth set looked finished at 24-19 for Allen. Boyd turned away five straight match points, according to Star Local Media, and The Morning News credited junior Catelijne Van Ham's blocking as central to the comeback. Allen finally ended it 27-25 on a night when junior Maya Ogbogu, a Texas A&M commit, put down 27 kills.
Junior Trinity Johnson led Boyd with 16 kills. The Broncos finish 31-8, ranked No. 4 in the state, after reaching a regional final for the first time since 2015.
"I have much love for McKinney Boyd, the players, the coach and the way they tested us," Poole told The Morning News. "They are young, too, and they will be back."
Allen has won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series and will play Duncanville at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Wiley G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City, according to the UIL.
North meets a champion
McKinney North arrived with a 19-match winning streak, an unbeaten district record and a 26-6 mark after sweeping Dallas Wilson in the regional semifinal. Highland Park gave the Bulldogs little room to build on any of it.
The Scots scored the first four points of the match, never trailed in the first or third set and trailed for only two points in the second, The Morning News reported. North's best chance came in that second set, which went to extra points before Highland Park won it 26-24.
