The Lady Scots made the 45 minute drive to Red Oak High School on Tuesday to battle the Waco Midway Lady Panthers in round three of the playoffs. The Lady Panthers, who had been eliminated from the playoffs by the Lady Scots a year before, were out for revenge. Highland Park students made an impressive showing, nearly filling the student section. Their varsity cheerleaders also came along for the ride.

Waco Midway took the first set in spite of a valiant comeback from Highland Park. Their determination combined with expected playoff jitters on Highland Park’s side proved too much for the Lady Scots as the Panthers took an early 1-0 lead in the match. But if they thought the whole match was going to be that way, they were dead wrong.

The Lady Scots came out with a vengeance in the second set a passionate pep talk from senior, Elizabeth Gilley. Their nearly impenetrable defense and deceptive attacks shocked Midway and sent them into panic mode, causing the Lady Panthers to make lackadaisical errors such as serving into the net, resulting in “free” points for Highland Park. Junior, Falyn Reaugh lead the team with five scores as the Lady Scots won a lopsided victory, 25-12 and tied the match at 1-1.

The Scots carried their momentum into the third set, starting out on a 5-1 run before Midway made rallied and tied the set at 12-12. An 11-6 scoring run by Highland Park gave them a comfortable 23-18 lead before Reaugh capped the set, 25-19. The Lady Scots now had a 2-1 lead in the match. Gilley and Reaugh both contributed heavily to Highland Park’s point total, putting up five and seven points, respectively.

The Lady Scots had put the wounded Panthers into a corner, a dangerous situation indeed. The teams were neck and neck until they both reached ten points and the Lady Scots started to pull ahead, developing a 22-15 lead. Midway made a push in an attempt to save their season but it simply wasn’t enough to hold off the Lady Scots. The winning point was scored off a serve by senior, Greer Gordan. A futile attempt to control the perfectly placed ball sent it flying into the Lady Panther’s sideline, which was quite fitting a fitting finish. The Lady Scots had defeated Waco Midway in the playoffs for the second year in a row, 3-1.

Highland Park’s next game is against Oak Ridge at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville on Friday at 6:30 PM. From there they could face JJ Pearce for the third time this year on Saturday at 6:00 PM in the same location. It is a bit of a drive, but your attendance would be much appreciated. Go Scots!