Ryan Mitchell's last high school volleyball match ended with one more trophy.
Prestonwood Christian swept San Antonio Antonian 25-19, 25-21, 25-10 on Saturday at Robinson High School to win the TAPPS Class 6A state championship, then Mitchell confirmed he is retiring from coaching high school volleyball, Star Local Media reported. The Lady Lions finished 42-4. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's state bracket lists Antonian at 46-5.
The title is Prestonwood's fourth in five years and the eighth in program history, according to Star Local Media. For Mitchell it was the 11th state championship of a career that began at Irving Nimitz in 2004.
"It's picture-perfect to go out on top," Mitchell told Star Local Media. "Even this morning, it was hard not to get those nerves like it's your first one because you just want it so bad for those girls."
From Lovejoy to Prestonwood
Before Prestonwood, Mitchell turned Lucas Lovejoy into a state power. His Lovejoy teams won five consecutive UIL titles from 2008 through 2012 and added two more in 2019 and 2020. He took over at Prestonwood in 2021, and Saturday's win gave him four TAPPS championships in six seasons there.
He described the moment his youngest child ran onto the court after the final point as a repeat of his first title at Lovejoy, when his oldest, then 5, did the same thing in San Marcos. "It's full circle," Mitchell said. The Prestonwood crowd chanted "Thank you, Ryan" after the match, per the Star Local account.
How the final turned
Antonian kept pace early and the opening set sat tied at 13 before Prestonwood pulled away with an 11-2 run. The Lady Lions also had to absorb the loss of their starting setter to an ankle injury in the first set and ran the offense through a backup the rest of the way.
The second set was tied at 11 when a 5-0 Prestonwood burst, built around three aces, separated the teams. The third set was never close. A junior's serving run pushed the Lady Lions to a 16-3 lead, and Star Local Media credited her with nine aces and 19 kills in the match.
