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The Katy volleyball team fought off elimination time and again Tuesday night, not only from game point but its district championship hopes.
The Tigers kept four incredible rallies alive at one point in the fourth set, but in the end, Cinco Ranch’s front row of Lindsey Miller, Mary Beth Allcorn and Ali Becker proved too formidable.
So did history.
Miller had 12 kills and Allcorn added a game-high 16 digs in a 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 victory, assuring the host Cougars their seventh consecutive district championship in front of a near-capacity crowd.
Cinco Ranch (28-8, 12-0) is two games ahead of Katy (19-14, 10-2) with two to play, but even if the teams tie Cinco Ranch holds the tiebreaker.
“My players expect that. They know they have to be up,” Cinco Ranch coach Tammy Laurence said. “It’s hard to keep that streak going. Sometimes players can become complacent because they know about the past, but these girls stepped up to (the task) and they did it again.”
Allcorn and Becker had 10 kills each, Kaylon Alexander added 14 digs and Miller had a solo block for the Cougars, who let a late lead slip away in the first set and took seemingly firm control of each of the next three before having to withstand furious Katy rallies.
“We got a lot more energy and just played together,” Miller said. “The sets got a lot better so we got a lot more hits.”
Down 21-13 in the fourth, the Tigers used stellar front-row play to stave off Becker and Jennifer Sanders on a handful of would-be kills and get within 24-23, but Becker closed it out with a kill to send the Cougars into a wild, hand-slapping celebration.
“The Katy Tigers never quit playing, they hustle and they never give up. Even though you may have a 10-point lead, they’re still coming at you,” Laurence said. “But once my girls calmed down and decided everything was OK … they got tight, but they finally put it together. I’m proud of them.”
The Cougars, who advanced to the regional semifinals in 2002 and 2003, finish the district schedule against Katy Taylor and Hastings.
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