Bryson VB heads to State

MIDLOTHIAN – Brinkley Richardson wanted to end Saturday’s Region II-A Final in a sweep.

Bryson’s junior middle hitter had contributed to her Cowgirls taking the first two games vs. Saint Jo 26-24, 25-21 and taking a 14-4 lead in game three. Like the good teams always will, the Lady Panthers stormed back  to within 15-16 to make things interesting.

Richardson wanted to take the interest out, using a kill to break serve on a four-point string and then stepping up to the serving line and rolling off five in a row to give the Cowgirls a little breathing room and eventually a State Tournament berth with a 25-18 win in game three, clinching a State Tournament berth for the Cowgirls.

Bryson, the Region II champ, will take on Neches, the Region III champ, Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. Water Valley and D’Hanis will play in the other Class A semifinal with the winners to play at 3 p.m. Thursday in the final.

Bryson Coach Chelsea Kincaid said she was glad Richardson and her teammates were there to put out the fire in game three.

“We knew Saint Jo was going to come back,” Kincaid explained. “We were just able to put out that fire.”

Bryson, like Saint Jo, was able to overcome injuries in the early going of the season to recover by district time and take district titles. After losing twice in the first round of District 10-A action, the Cowgirls rebounded with a clean sweep in the second round and won all four playoff matches, two in three-game sweeps.

“We had a tough preseason,” Kincaid said amidst the celebration.”The girls showed a lot of character in coming back like they did.”

Character abounded in game one Saturday, Saint Jo looking to pull away with a 22-17 lead in game one. Bryson had other ideas, Kyla Jones coming through with a return to break serve.

Sydney Davidson’s single point brought the lead to three before Jones served up three straight points, with some help from kills from Richardson and Maddee Moore to force a Saint Jo timeout tied at 23.

Moore would then break a 24-all tie with a pair of points, a return into the net ending game one.

In game two, Bryson used runs by Kayleigh Pippin and Jones to stake itself to a 14-6 lead.  The Lady Panthers would tie the match at 14 and 17.

Junior Alyssa Perez used a pair of points as did Jones to give Bryson a 24-20 lead before a Moore kill ended game two.