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TEMPLE -- A&M Consolidated's second-round playoff volleyball match against Richardson didn't turn out to be about the old coach.
The story was the young guns.
Shelby Dickson delivered a huge game to lead a trio of junior and sophomore hitters who lifted Consolidated to a 25-14, 13-25, 25-13, 25-12 victory over Richardson in an area-round match at Temple College on Friday night.
The 24th-ranked Lady Tigers improved to 33-7 and reached the Class 5A Region II quarterfinal round for the second consecutive season. Consol advanced to face Rowlett, with that match tentatively scheduled for Tuesday night at Temple College.
Richardson, directed by former Consol coach Adam Cornell, finished the season at 32-12.
Consol cured its first-round problem of starting slowly with a dominating performance in the first game, but the Lady Tigers wilted in Game 2. Dropping 12 points on errors, Consol made all kinds of mistakes and made it appear that the Lady Eagles had a chance to pull an upset.
Before the third game, first-year Consol coach Cydryce McMillian challenged her players to clean up the errors and play like champions. Dickson, a junior right-side hitter, hammered the message into the heart of the Richardson defense. Dickson started Game 3 with a block and added three big kills as the Lady Tigers jumped to a 13-5 lead.
"She is fearless," McMillian said. "She has a contagious attitude, and we love that. Once the girls see her have the eye of the tiger, they buy into that."
Dickson finished with a match-high 16 kills, producing seven in the crucial third game.
"I didn't think I played great in the first game and I'm the worst critic on myself," Dickson said. "I think we all cranked it up a notch in the third game. We got more intense. We got excited, and that brought up our level of play."
Bothered by Richardson's short serves in Game 2, the Lady Tigers were unable to run their offense well enough to take advantage of their balanced attack. Consol's passing picked up in the last two games, allowing setter Hillary Parker to choose her targets on the way to dishing out 40 assists.
"It's hard to pick out one person [to defend]," Cornell said. "That's what makes them such a good team. They're a very hard team to stop if you don't take control early."
Cornell must have had flashbacks in the final game when Parker began to click with 6-foot-4 junior middle blocker Karla Gilbert on quick sets. The connection that blossomed last season under Cornell produced six of Gilbert's 12 kills in the fourth game.
Sophomore middle blocker Erika Arthur contributed 10 kills and helped Consol win the blocking battle along with Gilbert, Dickson and Parker.
Junior libero Kelsey Kinley led the Lady Tigers with 11 digs. Kinley and fellow junior Megan Caruso (six digs) provided solid defense to go with Consol's dominance at the net.
"Kelsey and Megan passed a lot of balls," McMillian said. "They were serving some very tough balls and hitting some hard shots at Kelsey, and she did an excellent job controlling that first ball so we could run our stuff. I think a lot of times she is overlooked."
Kinley and Richardson libero Spenser Crain both made a few spectacular saves, usually producing long, exciting points.
"I was so proud to see both sides just going after it," Cornell said. "There was a lot of long points, and that shows a lot of heart."
