Plano High is the only Plano ISD volleyball team still playing after the area round, and it got there by answering Frisco Wakeland's best push of the night.
The Wildcats beat Wakeland 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-12 on Tuesday at Walnut Grove High School in Prosper and moved into the Class 6A Division II regional semifinals, Star Local Media reported.
How the match turned
Plano won the first two sets, edging Wakeland 25-23 in the opener before taking the second by eight points. Wakeland surged late in the third and won it to force a fourth, according to Star Local Media, but Plano pulled away at the end of the fourth, winning it by 13 points.
The win is Plano's sixth in a row and moves the Wildcats to 35-8, according to their MaxPreps schedule. They are 20-4 at neutral sites this season, 8-1 at home and 7-3 on the road. Wakeland's season ends at 23-19.
Plano won District 7-6A at 12-2. Its two league losses came at Plano East on Sept. 22 and at home against Coppell on Oct. 9. The Wildcats beat Plano West in five sets in October, swept Plano East on Oct. 16 and opened the playoffs with a 3-0 bi-district win over Haltom on Oct. 29, MaxPreps results show.
Elsewhere in the 6A Division II bracket, Keller, Southlake Carroll, Prosper Walnut Grove, Mansfield and North Forney also won area-round matches, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's results.
East and West eliminated
Plano's two district rivals both drew ranked opponents in the 6A Division I bracket, and neither won a set.
Plano East lost to McKinney Boyd 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 on Monday at Lovejoy, Star Local Media reported. Boyd won the first two sets by 12 and nine points, and Plano East stayed within reach in the third before the Broncos closed it out, according to the newspaper. Boyd was No. 4 in the MaxPreps Texas rankings released Monday.
Plano West fell to Allen 25-17, 25-12, 25-20, according to the Star-Telegram. Allen was No. 2 in the same rankings.
Both programs had given Plano trouble during the district season. Plano East handed the Wildcats one of their two league losses, and Plano West took them to a fifth set before losing.
