GARLAND — Southlake Carroll’s Kinsley Young had 22 kills and four blocks to help the Dragons rally past Austin High 27-25, 17-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10 on Saturday night to win the UIL Class 6A Division II state championship.
Young, who’s committed to TCU, also had four service aces — including her final one that came on match point.
Austin High setter Maggie McCaroll, who’ll play for Arkansas, led the Maroons with 15 kills, 24 assists and 14 digs while USC-bound Riley Malloy added 14 kills and 13 digs. Camille Presley, who’ll play for the Texas Longhorns, finished with nine kills while both Claire Nelson and Wesley McGinnis chipped in five kills. Laven Blumoff had 17 digs while Nora Bettis added 17 assists.
Southlake Caroll edged the Maroons 27-25 in the first set, but McCarroll and Malloy came out blasting in the second set as Austin High evened the match with an impressive eight-point margin of victory. The Maroons then went up 2-1 in sets by hanging on in the third, 25-23, and they led 17-12 in the fourth set, but the Dragons staged an 8-0 run and forced the deciding fifth set by closing with a 5-0 run.
Austin High led 8-4 in the fifth, but another Dragons scoring run saw them go up 10-6 and then play point for point. Three of the Dragons’ final four points were kills by Young, who then served out the match with the ace.
Central Texas sent a record three schools to state finals this year. Wimberley fell in Friday night’s Class 4A Division I title match to Eagle Mountain, but Cedar Park swept top-ranked Argyle in Saturday’s Class 5A Division II final. It was the first volleyball state title in Cedar Park history.