CORSICANA -- After easily defeating Houston Incarnate Word Academy 3-0 on Friday, the volleyball team took care of business against a tough Concordia Lutheran squad 3-0 on Saturday to advance to the TAPPS State Semi-Finals.
 
The Friday game against IWA was not only a win, but two Friars reached career milestones during the match. Lauryn Lambert reached 1000 kills and shortly after Cate Hatfield reached 1500 assists. Both juniors have proven over and over again how important they are to the volleyball program.
 
Saturday, BL met up against Concordia Lutheran after they defeated TCA 3-1 in the first round. The Friars started off fast with an early 5-1 start, but Concordia would battle back. The first set was a back and forth affair until the Friars defense took over late. Led by Lyric Berry, the ladies combined for seven blocks in the first set, which helped them pull away for a 25-20 win.
 
The second set was all Friars, jumping out to an early lead and not looking back. Lauryn Lambert, Lyric Berry and Ashlyn Zilliken all had over three kills in the set and the team hit .318% to cruise to a 25-15 set win.
 
The third set was by far the most entertaining and stressful. The Friars continued to dominate early, and at one point they were up 17-13 after two straight great plays from Paloma Gonzalez. Concordia would dig deep and score seven straight points to give them a 20-17 lead and force BL to take a timeout. After the timeout, the Friars fought back to tie it up at 20, and that is when it went back and forth until the Friars were able to win the set 30-28 and match 3-0.
 
Lambert stepped up big for the Friars as Concordia had multiple set-points where Lambert would get a big kill. She had a kill that tied the game at 23, 24, 25 and had an ace to give the Friars a 26-25 lead. Berry also stepped up when called upon, giving BL a 27-26 lead.
 
The Bishop Lynch volleyball team has won seven straight games and 21 straight sets.
 
BL hasn't played in the state semi-finals since 2019 when this senior class was freshmen. They will also have a tough test as they will be going up against the top seed from the southern schools, Antonian. Antonian defeated John Paul II 3-0 to advance to the semi-finals.
 
The TAPPS 6A Semi-Final match will be Friday, November 11, at 1:00 PM at Robinson High School in Waco, TX. Read Full Article