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Win No. 1 in the playoffs, however, was an event for Simpson and her team.
The Lady Vikings beat Tyler Lee 25-10, 25-17, 25-21 on Monday at the Johnson Activity Center, prompting Simpson to punch her first in the air and yell in celebration.
"There's no doubt about it," a smiling Simpson said after her team's Class 5A-Region II bi-district win. "This one will stand out, the first time in history we won a playoff game.
The victory sent Bryan (23-15) into an area playoff match against either Lake Highlands (40-4) or Garland (12-16), who meet Tuesday at the Garland Special Events Center.
A game into the match, victory looked like a foregone conclusion as the Lady Vikings were dominating. Lee's longest run on its serve in the opening game was three points, but that just narrowed Bryan's lead to 16-9.
The Lady Vikes finished the win powerfully, with Kaylee Piatt getting four winning sets and Tiffany Regmund planting three of them as the Bryan stretched an 18-9 lead to 24-9. Regmund finished with 15 kills and Piatt finished with 29 assists.
"It's pretty amazing," Regmund said. "We were feeling pretty good, winning that first game. We cooled down, but picked it back up."
"It's sweet," Simpson said. "I told the kids this was an opportunity to make history and be a part of something big, get a banner and all of those things that come with winning. I know they are excited."
Lee's last lead in the second game was at 5-4. Bryan's Amanda Cernovich got a winner on an overset and powered through a Tyler Lee block to regain the advantage for the Lady Vikes, who climbed to a 17-10 lead and held the Lady Raiders at arm's length.
Tyler Lee (30-7), led by 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter Sarah Sivertson, made a run in the third game. Bryan held an 18-11 lead, getting a big lift on one of three aces by Jordan Cumpton, but the Lady Raiders rallied to cut it to 23-21 on the service of libero Eva Story.
Bryan locked it up with a dink for a winner by Jennifer Hall and celebrated when Sivertson's cross-court spike sailed wide. Hall had seven kills and three block assists and gave Bryan a change of pace with the short sets to the middle.
"I still had confidence in the kids, but it was just kind of change in the intensity level," Simpson said. "It's hard to maintain that intensity the whole time. Our whole preparation prior to the game in pregame, you could just feel it. They were ready."
