SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Sonora Lady Broncos and Wall Lady Hawks put on a five-set show in front of a packed house at Lake View High School for the District 4-3A championship on Saturday.
“We had a good atmosphere today,” Wall head coach Robynn Jones said. “We had fans on the Sonora side yelling. We had fans on the Wall side yelling. We could not hear ourselves to communicate. And you can’t replicate that in practice, no matter how much you turn the music up. So, it definitely helped us.”
Sonora was crowned champion after a thrilling match. It’s their second district championship in a row. The Lady Broncos won 25-15, 12-25, 25-18, 18-25 and 15-6.
After the game, first year head coach Judi Harris held her melting pot of emotions in check. During her time at Hondo prior to moving Sonora, Harris and her two daughters on the team had never won a district championship.
“This was pretty emotional. This is all you can ask for,” Harris said. “Wall is a very well-coached team with lots of talent year in and year out. For Sonora to compete for a district title after splitting with them -- I knew it was gonna be a [good] game… I knew they were gonna bring some fans. I was hoping we could get our boys here and we did. This was everything that I knew it was going to be. Thankfully, we came out on top and we were able to push through the five sets.”
For Sonora’s seniors, defending their crown is just the icing on the cake.
“We won district last year. So, we’ve had that goal all year,” senior hitter Mary Kyle Johnson said. “This win is just huge. Now, we’re back-to-back champions. So, we’ve met our goal. As a senior, that’s all you can ask for.”
Whether it was injuries or natural disasters, the Lady Broncos haven’t lost sight of those goals throughout this season. While that could be attributed Harris and her philosophy of “relentless pursuit,” that has always been the nature of Sonora.
“We’re never gonna give up on each other,” Harris said. “That was just a prime example of what this community is and what these girls will do for each other.”
After allowing Wall to get within 16-12 in the first set, Sonora went on a 9-3 run to claim the set thanks to four combined kills by junior hitter Brae Harris and senior setter Jackilyn Sykes.
Getting Sykes going at the net was “huge” for Sonora’s offense, according to Harris.
“Not being one dimensional is going to be vital for us in the future,” Harris added. “Our goal is to win a state championship. In order to do that, it’s gonna take all of us. For her [Jackilyn Sykes], it’s her senior year. She wasn’t really an offensive player last year.”
Sonora led 2-1 going into the fourth set and held a commanding 11-2 lead in that set, looking to put the match away. Wall then made one of the most incredible comebacks you’ll ever see, going on a 23-7 run to force a decisive fifth set.
“They showed tremendous fight,” Jones praised her team. “They showed nothing is impossible. It’s only impossible until you prove it’s possible. Hopefully, that will stay with us going deep into the playoffs because we will falter. We are not perfect, we are human. So, when that faltering comes, hopefully we’ll be able to fight back.”
After allowing Wall the first point in the fifth set, Sonora then scored 15 of the next 20 points to win the set and the district championship.
“To be up so big in that fourth set and to drop it and have to come back and play a fifth set and win it, they responded well,” Harris said. “I told them this was going to be a game of runs… Whoever went on the longest run and had the ball at the end of the game was going to win the match. It just so happened that we were the team at the end of the match that had the ball.”
Sonora will face Presidio in the Bi-District round of playoffs on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Fort Stockton at 6:30. Wall will face Crane in Sterling City the same day at 6:30 p.m.
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