Lexi Cook set. Morgan Ross kill. Rinse. Repeat.

The No. 2 seed Centralia defeated No. 6 Bowling Green 3-1 (25-9, 23-25, 25-12 and 25-21) on Monday in Hallsville to advance to the Class 3 District 7 championship game at 6 p.m. today against No. 1 seed Hallsville (11-18-4) on the Lady Indians’ home court. Cook broke the school single-match record with 34 assists, and Ross had 19 kills — nine of them in the final set.

Centralia defeats Bowling Green in semis

Head coach Julie Crum said every girl stepped up in some way to send the Lady Panthers (14-13) to their second straight district title match — and second one against Hallsville. She said Cook was right in the middle of the action, giving her hitters great balls to hit and her finally breaking the record was the cherry on top of a great night for Centralia.

“She tied (the record) earlier this season at 31,” Crum said. “We’ve really been working on positioning on the court, getting to every single ball they humanly can. I’m just really proud that they’ve grown together this season.”

Centralia came out swinging early in the match by taking nine of the first 11 points and establishing an airtight front court early with two blocks, taking advantage of Bowling Green’s missing middle hitter. On top of her assists, Cook served during two lengthy Centralia runs during the match, with the first occurring late in the first set for an 8-0 run. 

Bowling Green (9-12-4) was able to grab its first lead at 6-5 in the second set and had a one-point advantage two more times before taking the set after a hitting error. Centralia had a 15-11 lead following a Katie Carrico service ace — one of 10 Lady Panther aces on a night Centralia only missed two serves — but the Lady Bobcats took six straight points to tie the match at 19.

“They had fantastic energy in the first set,” Crum said. “Then they just dropped it in the second set. We talk about those very things every single night. The energy has to be consistent and the communication has to be consistent on every single ball.

“I asked them, ‘Why won’t you ever like to ever have a lead,’” she said jokingly. “They pushed through together, and they finished.”

Centralia needed a closer, and Ross proved to be up to the challenge. The Lady Panthers roared out to another great start in the third set by going on a 7-0 run during Cook’s second serving streak. Harper Forshee finished the third set with three kills, and Ross tied her after factoring in three of the final four points of the set — picking up two kills and a block. 

Ross picked up where she left off at the start of the fourth set, blocking for the first point and then killing on the next. Her third kill of the set gave the Lady Panthers a 5-4 lead they had to fight to maintain the rest of the way. During a 6-0 that included Annaka Hombs serving up two aces, Ross rattled off three straight kills to help build a 16-11 lead.

Cook softly placed a ball on the floor later in the set prior to Ross recording three more kills and Raegan Anderson sending the game-winning kill down. Crum said Ross’ presence was a big lift after dropping the close second set.

“She is extremely competitive,” Crum said. “If you’re a female athlete, especially against the teams that we’re playing, you’ve got to be competitive, you’ve got to push yourself and you need to push your teammates.”

Crum said she is glad her team “finished first” in a match that had several long volleys, which she wasn’t surprised about after the close three sets Centralia played with Bowling Green a few days before districts started. 

Centralia played at Hallsville earlier in the season, getting swept in three sets to extend the Lady Panthers’ set winless streak against the Lady Indians to 20. The last time Centralia defeated Hallsville was in the district semifinals in 2017. 

Crum said the Lady Panthers are down a girl as Addison Mabrey is out with a shoulder injury, but Morgan Ross is healthy this time, so Crum feels more confident heading into tonight’s rematch.

“Morgan Ross was hurt (in the previous meeting),” Crum said. “All around, every girl pitched in tonight, and I’m really proud of them.”