The UIL volleyball playoffs begin with bi-district matches Monday and Tuesday around the Dallas area. Here is a preview of the UIL and TAPPS postseason.
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Comparing 6A playoff brackets
When Trophy Club Byron Nelson won the Class 6A state title in 2019, it had to win four playoff matches against teams that were ranked in the top 100 in the nation. That included a third-round win over defending state champion Flower Mound and a five-set win over Plano West, No. 14 in the country, in the state championship match.
This year, with the UIL splitting the four playoff teams from each district into Division I and Division II brackets for the first time, Byron Nelson could face one team ranked in the top 10 in the state in the entire postseason. At the most.
Byron Nelson (34-1), winner of 30 consecutive matches and ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps, will be in the 6A Division II bracket and might not face a state top-10 team until the state championship match. The only other two top-10 teams besides No. 1 Byron Nelson in Division II are No. 2 Dripping Springs (ranked sixth in the nation) and No. 3 Houston Stratford.
The UIL no longer includes the state semifinals as part of the state tournament, and the new playoff format has the Region I and Region II winners playing in the state semifinals and matches the champions from Region III and Region IV against each other. That means that three-time state champion Dripping Springs would face Stratford in the final four if both make it that far, with the winner potentially playing Byron Nelson in the state final.
Of course, to get that far, Byron Nelson will have to win a loaded Region I that includes four other area-ranked teams — No. 3 Hebron, No. 4 Plano West, No. 7 Southlake Carroll and No. 9 Flower Mound. No. 1 Byron Nelson has beaten Flower Mound and Carroll this season.
Byron Nelson’s 2019 title was the last time a Dallas-area school won state in 6A.
The 6A Division I bracket will include seven teams ranked in the top 10 in the state — No. 4 Keller, No. 5 Lamar Fulshear, No. 6 Katy Cinco Ranch, No. 7 Pearland, No. 8 Conroe Grand Oaks, No. 9 Cy Ranch and No. 10 The Woodlands. Keller, ranked No. 20 in the nation, could potentially face Grand Oaks — the defending state champion — or two-time state champion The Woodlands in the state semifinals.
Big turnaround at Sunset
Sunset was 4-16 last season and won a total of 11 matches over the past two seasons. The last time Sunset was in the playoffs was 2019.
But Sunset has made one of the more remarkable turnarounds in the Dallas area this season with head coach Mackenzie Robinson, who is in her second year at the school. Sunset is 12-11 and finished third in District 13-5A, and it will face North Mesquite in the first round of the 5A Division I playoffs at 7 p.m. Monday at Skyline.
“My seniors have such grit and determination, and everyone has come together,” Robinson said. “The first year was kind of rocky. I’m very young, and I was just trying to get everything figured out, but I had a lot of great mentors along the way. The coach at W.T. White, my athletic coordinator here and then my head girls soccer coach here was very hands on trying to make sure I understood the ropes.”
In her first head coaching job, the 24-year-old Robinson has three club players on her roster and has received big contributions from athletes who are more than just volleyball players.
“They are involved in so many endeavors throughout Sunset. They are student council leaders, they are in multiple sports, and they truly have a will to make Sunset better,” Robinson said.
Robinson will face her alma mater on Monday. She not only played volleyball at North Mesquite, but she grew up around sports because her father, Mike Robinson, was the head football coach at Wilmer-Hutchins, Hillcrest, North Mesquite and DeSoto.
Robinson has been by her father’s side as he deals with potentially life-threatening health issues. Mike Robinson was originally diagnosed last year with multiple system atrophy (MSA), a rare, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central and autonomic nervous systems.
There is no cure for MSA, and the average survival time after the onset of symptoms is six to 12 years, according to WebMD.
But in September, he received a new diagnosis that he had two neurological disorders — copper and selenium deficiencies.
“In some instances you want to question why this is happening, but God has a plan,” Mackenzie Robinson said. “We’re sticking together, and we’re all hoping for the best.”
She said her father is still able to attend Sunset matches.
“He is cheering at all the games,” she said. “He’s yelling like he was yelling when he was on the football field.”
Teams to watch
Keller (27-4)
The nation’s 20th-ranked team is looking for its fourth straight deep playoff run after being the Class 6A state runner-up in 2021, a state semifinalist in 2022 and reaching the regional semifinals last year. Keller owns a win over defending 6A state champion Conroe Grand Oaks and has gotten outstanding seasons from Cal pledge Anna Flores (846 assists, 46 blocks), Sophee Dean (60 blocks), Lauren Scheiden (397 digs) and Carley Wright (307 kills, 45 blocks).
Hebron (33-6)
The five-time state champion is trying to get back to the state semifinals for the first time since winning the last of three consecutive state titles in 2017. The state’s 11th-ranked 6A team has a variety of weapons at the net, as Taylor Johnson has 420 kills, Cadence McDonald has 331 and Addy Vary has 238. Kamryn Mullican leads the team with 837 assists, and Carola Moreno has a team-best 517 digs. Hebron has a win over defending 5A state champion Lovejoy and went 14-0 in District 5-6A.
Lovejoy (33-7)
The nation’s 16th-ranked team is the defending 5A state champion and has won four state titles over the past five years. Its 10 state titles are most among Dallas-area UIL schools and tied for third-most in UIL history. Sophomore outside hitter Gentry Barker is the state’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2027 and has a team-high 414 kills (3.4 per set) to go with 423 digs and 40 aces. Princeton pledge Shelby Burriss has 237 kills and a team-leading 110 blocks, while Sienna Franks leads Lovejoy with 486 digs. Anna Barr, Bella Lopez and Skylar Jackson have combined for 870 kills for the state’s top-ranked 5A team.
Argyle (34-5)
The state’s second-ranked team is one of the teams to beat in the 5A Division II playoff bracket, along with No. 1 Lovejoy, No. 3 Frisco Wakeland, No. 5 Friendswood and No. 11 Frisco Liberty. Argyle shared the District 6-5A title with Colleyville Heritage, ranked No. 4 in the state, and Argyle will take a nine-match winning streak into the playoffs as it looks for its first state semifinal appearance since 2017. Argyle was a regional finalist last season, losing to Colleyville Heritage. Colgate pledge Jordyn Moore leads Argyle with 370 kills to go with 528 assists, 370 digs and a team-leading 55 aces. Tulane pledge Piper Mickenheim has a team-high 601 digs, giving her 1,091 over the last two years.
Frisco Wakeland (29-6)
Wakeland is trying to become just the second Frisco ISD team to reach the state semifinals, with Frisco Reedy being the first in 2022, when it was the 5A state runner-up. Wakeland shared the District 12-5A title with Highland Park and has wins over defending 5A state champion Lovejoy and area-ranked 6A teams Allen, Southlake Carroll, Flower Mound, Hebron and Rockwall. LSU pledge Hannah Lee leads Wakeland with 398 kills, and Bella Wood is close behind with 335. West Virginia pledge Sarah Pfiffner has 655 assists, 280 digs and 227 kills, and Aubree Fernandez has been the top defensive player with 559 digs.
Players to watch
Suli Davis, Colleyville Heritage
The BYU pledge was a MaxPreps first-team All-American last year and has been one of the best players in America again this season. She has 675 kills, averaging a remarkable 6.6 kills per set. Davis has four matches with more than 30 kills and 13 other matches with 20 or more kills. Davis just surpassed 2,500 kills and 1,500 digs for her career and is trying to lead Colleyville Heritage to its second state title in three years. Colleyville Heritage is the top-ranked team in the state in the 5A Division I playoff bracket.
Kylie Kleckner, Trophy Club Byron Nelson
The Washington pledge has been the best player on the No. 1-ranked team in America. Kleckner has 495 kills, an average of 5.2 per set, and she has had double-digit kills in 15 consecutive matches. Her top two matches were 34 and 32 kills, both in four-set wins over area-ranked Southlake Carroll, and she also leads Byron Nelson (34-1) with 47 aces. Rice pledge Ashlyn Seay takes a lot of pressure off Kleckner at the net, recording 396 kills, and versatile sophomore superstar Sophee Peterson has 171 kills, 46 aces and team highs of 61 blocks and 1,227 assists.
Reese Poerner, Plano West
The Pepperdine pledge has a team-high 477 kills for a 25-7 team that won District 6-6A title by one match over Plano East. Poerner had a season-high 32 kills in a victory against McKinney Boyd, added 26 in a win over Plano East and had 24 in win against defending 5A state champion Lovejoy.
Alex Richter, Highland Park
The Georgia pledge has 500 kills for the state’s seventh-ranked 5A team, giving her 1,216 kills over the last two years. Highland Park will be one of the favorites in 5A Division I, along with Colleyville Heritage, Aledo, Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, Amarillo and Melissa. Highland Park is the only team to beat Trophy Club Byron Nelson — the No. 1 team in the nation — and also has impressive wins over state-ranked Hebron, McKinney North, Frisco Lone Star and Frisco Wakeland.
Macaria Spears, Plano Prestonwood Christian
The No. 1 recruit in the state in the Class of 2025 is committed to back-to-back NCAA champion Texas and is trying to help Prestonwood win its third straight TAPPS 6A state championship. She already has 548 kills, four more than her total for the entire 2022 season, when she was the Gatorade state player of the year. Prestonwood has never lost a playoff match since she arrived at the school as a sophomore, and there is a good chance that streak continues as a 32-2 Prestonwood team is ranked No. 3 in the nation. After she was a first-team All-American last year, Spears leads Prestonwood in kills, blocks (69) and aces (38) to go with 237 digs this season.
Best first-round matches
Coppell vs. Allen, 6:30 Tuesday at Prosper Walnut Grove
Plano West vs. Flower Mound, 6:00 Tuesday at Colleyville Heritage
Frisco Liberty vs. Frisco Lone Star, 6:30 Tuesday at Frisco Lebanon Trail
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
