Iola knew the path to the Class A Region III tournament, and the Lady Bulldogs weren't surprised to find North Zulch in their path.

Iola's Mollie Martinez finished off Game 3 with a pair of kills to close out a 25-20, 25-14, 25-23 regional quarterfinal victory at Viking Gym and send the Lady Bulldogs back to the regional tournament at the University of Texas-Tyler. Iola is the defending regional champion.

"We're lucky that we have eight players that are very talented, so if something's not working, we can go to something else," Iola head coach Jamie McDougald said. "We had to go to a lot of something elses tonight."

Iola prevailed despite a strong game from North Zulch's Taylor Jones, who had 16 kills. The senior outside hitter delivered often in Game 3 when her team's season was on the line.

Iola raced to a 13-4 lead in Game 3, getting most of that on Stormi Evans' serve. Evans had an ace and got kills from Hillary Trant and Martinez during the run.

Iola led 20-9 in Game 2 when North Zulch's Shelby McLain had to be helped off the court with an injury. It took some time for North Zulch to recover, but several players played a factor in the comeback attempt. Jones started the ensuing rally with a block. Mallorie Ferrell and Taylor Douget also had kills as North Zulch tried to stay in the match.

It was Iola's third victory over North Zulch this season and the fourth consecutive year that Iola has beaten North Zulch in the playoffs.

"It's hard to beat someone three times, but we knew if we could block Taylor Jones and cover their setter, then the rest of our team could outdo the rest of their team," McDougald said. "It was a tough one tonight, but we gutted it up. It's not easy, and all the kids are friends. We live 10 miles apart, and it's hard when you play them so many times."

A see-saw opening game rocked Iola's way with a six-point run that including a pair of winning spikes by Ashley Brown. North Zulch fell behind 19-15 but got as close as 20-18 when Douget hit wide.

Iola built its big lead in Game 2 thanks in part to North Zulch errors and four aces from Brown to help build a 21-9 lead.

Iola (30-7) will play the winner between Cumby vs. Overton in the regional semifinal Friday.