For the second year in a row, the Southlake Carroll Dragons swept their way to the Duncanville Tournament of Champions title, taking down top-ranked Coppell in the process.

But while his players were celebrating around him, coach Arthur Stanfield was keeping things in perspective.

For the second year in a row, Southlake Carroll players were the ones celebrating at center court at the close of the Duncanville Tournament of Champions.

"Well, I don't want to be a downer," he said, "but we won it last year and it didn't mean a thing because of what happened in the playoffs."

What happened in the playoffs, of course, is that Carroll was upset in the second round by Grapevine after the Dragons had spent all year as the top-ranked 5A team in the state.

"But this is a really good group of kids," he continued, "and after what happened to us in the playoffs, they have come back and they have worked hard. I'm pleased with the way they played this weekend."

Just like last year, the Dragons blew threw the loaded Duncanville field without dropping a set (in fact they have yet to drop a set this season). And they did it just like they did last year, with a varied attack featuring some terrific play at setter and with rock solid defense at the net and on the back row.

Katie Dunlap (13) earned MVP honors for her play all around the court.

"Truthfully we knew we would do well, but I don't know that we expected to win," said senior OH Katie Dunlap, who was selected tournament MVP. "This year has really been different because we lost a lot of our key starters (from last season), so we're trying to develop a new starting lineup, we're getting new leaders and trying to pull together. We feel like our chemistry has really been top notch this weekend. and we're just really excited."

Dunlap was a very deserving MVP selection for her play over the weekend, but the award could just as easily have gone to Christen Sikora or Taylor Gruenewald or Courtney Ensch or Danielle Proskovec or libero Cat McCoy, who was named Outstanding Defensive Player.

The Dragons, who are smaller than most of the other state powers, feature a mix of sophomores, juniors and seniors in key roles but have no real superstars. It seemed that every time they needed a big play over the weekend, it was a different player stepping up to make it.

Plays like this frustrated opposing offenses all weekend and earned Cat McCoy recognition as the touirnament's Outstanding Defensive Player.

"This team jells really well together," said McCoy. "We came in with a great attitude and a positive attitude and thinking we would do well. Winning two years in a row is just awesome."

Carroll looked impressive on Saturday in taking down Amarillo, Colleyville Heritage and Coppell with an energy none of the others could match.

Coppell, meanwhile, had been pushed to three by Allen to start Saturday morning and then swept Lovejoy to advance to the finals against one of their biggest North Texas rivals.

The match started with Sikora, Maiya Burns, Ensch and Timarie Nymeyer trading kills with Coppell's Erica Bohannon, Cassidy Pickrell and Chiaka Ogbogu.

Then, as they had done all weekend, the Dragons put together a run. Huge blocks by Nymeyer, Dunlap and Gruenewald coupled with Coppell's inability to handle the serve of Maddie McCoullough, Dunlap and McCoy sparked an unanswered outburst that put Carroll up 23-14.

Coppell's Mary-Kate Marshall skies for the shot during the finals.

But the top-ranked Cowgirls weren't going away that easily.

"They are a great team and have some amazing players," said McCoy.

Bohannon and Ogbogu took over to lead a 7-0 run that pulled the Cowgirls within 23-11. Ogbogu had three massive stuffs and a kill in the run, while Bohannon had two kills and an ace.

The big lead proved too much for Coppell to overcome, however, as Carroll caught its breath then closed out the set 25-22, thanks in part to some untimely mistakes by the Cowgirls.

Kylie Pickrell sets the Coppell attack.

Set two was much the same.

An opening outburst of Sikora blocks and kills had Carroll up 10-6 early. But then Pickrell and Bohannon answered and Coppell suddenly had a 12-10 lead in what seemed the blink of an eye.

Carroll responded with its own outburst and big back-to-back stuffs by Gruenewald put the Dragons up 13-12.

The teams traded kills again until, at 15-15, it was time for another Carroll run. This one was led by Sikora and Proskovec and when it was done, the Dragons were up 23-19.

Pickrell and Bohannon pulled Coppell within 21-23, but Nymeyer gave the Dragons championship point, which was delivered moments later, fittingly, on a stuff by Gruenewald.

"Coppell is a great team," said Dunlap, "and honesty, we've never had energy like we had today, so I'm super excited to see where it takes us next."

SEMIFINALS

The Dragon energy, according to McCoy, came prior the semifinal showdown with Colleyville Heritage.

"We started off having a dance-off in the hallway with (Colleyville)," said McCoy. "We know a lot of their players and we were kind of talking smack to each other. That gave us a lot of energy and we came out on fire."

That they did.

Heritage is a team whose players have never seen a set they didn't want to pound into submission. Finesse is not a part of the game plan.

They had basically overpowered Plano West and McKinney Boyd in the first two rounds of bracket play, but the Carroll Dragons were another beast.

And, as McCoy said, they came out on fire.

The Dragon block frustrated Heritage the entire match.

Blasts that had been pounding the floor earlier were suddenly being rejected by Gruenewald, Proskovec and Ensch with a vengeance. And if something did make it through, McCoy was showing why she's considered one of the state's premier liberos.

Meanwhile, Sikora, Proskovec and Gruenewald were unloading from all over as Southlake handed Heritage a 25-11 spanking in the first set.

The second set started out as more of the same, with Carrol shutting down the Heritage attack while scoring at will. The Dragons jumped out to commanding leads of 9-2, 16-4 and 19-8 then seemed to relax and suddenly the wheels went flying.

As a result, Heritage got a little of its swagger back.

Anna Walsh, Kimmy Gardner and Sarita Mikals suddenly caught fire and exploded on a 10-1 run that pulled them within 20-19 and stunned the Carroll players and crowd. But with Dunlap and Ensch coming up with huge kills, and Heritage making killer mistakes at crucial times, Carroll finished with a 5-1 run to close out the match and earn a berth in the finals.

Erica Bohannon unloads against the Lovejoy defense.

Coppell, meanwhile, had advanced to the championship match with a 25-22, 25-19 win over Lovejoy in a pure slugfest.

When it comes to power, both teams can bring it, and they did.

In the first set, Coppell jumped out quick behind Bohannon and Ogbogu only to see Malorie Puckett and Sarah Langs lead Lovejoy back with some huge plays at the net.

Then it was Bohannon, Ogbogu and Pickrell leading another run that put the Cowgirls in charge at 21-17.

Lovejoy's Katelyn Mckenzie puts up the block on Coppell.

But the Leopards weren't through as Puckett and Langs again came up big to pull Lovejoy within 22-20. That was as close as they would get, however, as Pickrell and Lovejoy mistakes gave the Cowgirls the first set.

The second set was very similar to the first with Pickrell and Mary-Kate Marshall leading Coppell to a quick lead. Then it was Ebony Nwanebu and Langs leading Lovejoy back with some mammoth plays at the net.

At 16-16, though, Pickrell, Bohannon and Kylie Pickrell put together a 9-3 run that closed out the match and sent the Cowgirls into the finals.

QUARTERFINALS

Allen's Kate Klepetka (1) goes low for the dig against Coppell.

Coppell had survived a bit of a scare in the quarterfinals against Allen.

After jumping out quick and cruising to an easy win in the first set, the Cowgirls made a few lineup adjustments in the second and Allen took advantage.

The Eagles jumped to a 22-18 lead behind big plays by Hannah Fry, Paige Cole and Camryn Freiberg only to see Coppell rally to pull even. But errors by the Cowgirls late allowed Allen to survive and force a third set.

It was close . . . for a moment. At 8-8, Coppell's Ogbogu, Pickrell and Bohannon took complete control of the net to lead the Cowgirls on a 17-4 run to close out the match and earn a spot in the semifinals.

Brooke Hollingsworth (10) makes the save for Colleyville Heritage in their win over Plano West.

Heritage meanwhile had advanced to the quarterfinals with an impressive three-set win over Plano West, in which Gardiner was huge down the stretch in the third set and in which Plano West had a few meltdowns to hurt their chances.

That set up a showdown with McKInney Boyd, which had survived two tough sets with Kingwood 27-25, 25-23 in the first round.

And Heritage simply overpowered the Broncos.

In the first set, the teams traded points until at 17-17, setter Alex Janak turned to Walsh and Morgan Hatwig, who unleashed a torrent of vicious kills. Meagan Elkins and Megan Mollett tried to keep Boyd within striking distance, but Heritage closed with a 7-2 run to take the set 25-22.

Boyd's Megan Mollett (7) tries to avoid the Kingwood block during the first round of bracket play.

The second was more of the same with Heritage riding its horses to a 16-12 lead then Walsh, Hatwig and Mikals taking over down the stretch to close out the sweep 25-17 and earn a spot in the semis.

Lovejoy earned its spot in the semifinals with a sweep of a feisty Keller team in a match that was closer and more difficult than it should have been.

Keller's Kayla MAshburn (11) was a force on Saturday but the Indians came up just short against Lovejoy.

In both sets the Leopards jumped to leads only to see Keller rally, usually behind Julie Haake and Kayla Schmitz, to pull even.

In the opening set, it was a 20-14 lead the Leopards let get away as Kayla Mashburn began putting the block on the Lovejoy attack. The Indians pulled within 21-20 before the Leopards stopped the bleeding and closed it out on a blast by Nwanebu.

In the second set, Keller pulled even at 20-20 after trailing almost the entire set. But Katelyn McKenzie, Mallorie Puckett and Brooke Ray led a 5-1 closing run to complete the sweep and put the Leopards into the semifinals.

Southlake Carroll had advanced to the semifinals with an easy sweep of an Amarillo team that was simply outgunned by the deep Dragon attack.

CONSOLATION

A&M Consolidated completed a very impressive weekend, rebounding from a loss to Keller in bracket play then sweeping Clear Creek, Ursuline and Plano West for the consolation title.

And the consolation match was a good one.

With Julia Devinney, Maddie McKiddy and Morgan MacGilvary leading West and Ashlynn Ford, Hayley Cmajdalka and Kaycey Cermin leading Consolidated, the teams traded kills and blocks to 20-20 in the first set. Then Jessica Wagner and Cermin exploded to lead a 5-2 run to put Consolidated up 1-0.

Set two was more back and forth early, but midway through the set Cermin, Jordan Dickson and Cmajdalka took control of the net. Katie Stebbins and McKiddy led a late West rally, but it was not enough as Cmajdalka had two huge kills to cool the rally then close out the 25-20 sweep.

Other Saturday bracket winners included:

Contender Bracket - Arlington def. Pearce 25-17, 25-22

Contender Consolation - Magnolia def Frisco Centennial 18-25, 25-23, 25-20

Comeback Bracket - Martin def Arlington Lamar 26-24, 25-21

Challenger Bracket - San Angelo def Tascosa 25-22, 26-24

Character Bracket - Midlothian def Lake Highlands 25-3, 25-16

COMPLETE RESULTS

Outstanding setter - Shannon Connell, Lovejoy

Outstanding offensive player - Ebony Nwanebu, Lovejoy

Outstanding defensive player - Cat McCoy, Southlake Carroll

All-Tournament

Janelle Giordano, Keller

Camryn Freiberg, Allen

Megan Mollett, McKinney Boyd

Chiaka Ogbogu, Coppell

Sarita Mikals, Colleyville Heritage

Christen Sikora, Southlake Carroll

Kimmy Gardiner, Colleyville Heritage

Erica Bohannon, Coppell

Cassidy Pickrell, Coppell

Lexus Cain, Amarillo

Jessica Wagner, A&M Consolidated

Jacqueline Vernor, Arlington

COMING AUG 30- SEPT 1

NIKE PEARLAND CLASSIC