San Marcos — Wimberley's young volleyball made it to the fifth set against defending champion Lucas Lovejoy in the Class 3A semifinal Friday afternoon.

The Lady Texans stormed back from an early deficit and pushed the Lady Leopards to the brink. If Wimberley wanted to advance to the UIL Class 3A state championship game, the team needed to dig deeper than it ever had before.

Unfortunately, there was nothing left in the pot after the previous set. The Lady Texans were run ragged trying to preserve their lead in the fourth set and faltered in the deciding game.

“We've been a fifth-set team all year,” Wimberley head coach Lee Grisham said. “We had to expend a lot of energy in the fourth set to get even. We got it to five, but I don't think there was a whole lot left in the tank.”

The Lady Texans knew the road to their first title since 2007 went through Lovejoy. Wimberley was actually the last Class 3A team to beat the Lady Leopards.

“When we saw the Lovejoy draw, it didn't faze (my team),” Grisham said. “The way we look at it, we come here to win it. We'll have to play them anyway, so we liked that match-up.”

The Lady Texans didn't look intimidated even though they were the younger team. Wimberley entered the match with only three seniors on its roster, compared to the Lady Leopards' eight.

After the first set (a 25-23 win by the Lady Texans), Lovejoy knew Wimberley was for real. The Lady Texans trailed 23-18 in the set, but stormed back and put together a 7-0 run.

“It was really exciting. It helped our momentum a lot,” Wimberley junior Laura Blab, who finished with 15 kills, said. “We were down but we came back and won. It helped our confidence a little more.”

The Lady Texans failed to capitalize on the momentum and lost the second and third sets as the Lady Leopards' middle blocker dominated.

Wimberley bounced back in the fourth set behind its defense.

The Lady Texans wouldn't let Lovejoy outside hitters Natalie Puckett and Andie Malloy terminate any points. Wimberley dug out kill after kill and extended the points.

“Those rallies were going five, six or seven balls deep and they won every single one of them,” Lady Leopard head coach Ryan Mitchell said. “I looked at my assistant coaches and said 'We're in trouble if we don't start winning some of these big rallies.'”

The Lady Texans won the fourth set (25-22) and sent their fans into a frenzy. If Wimberley wanted to put the defending champs away, the team needed to get out to a fast start in the fifth set.

It never happened.

Lovejoy jumped out to a 7-2 lead and the Lady Texans looked disoriented. Wimberley hit several points long and let balls drop in between three or four players. The Lady Texans had one more timeout, but Grisham chose to sit on it.

“We gave them some information in the first timeout (at 7-2) that they were supposed to play through it,” Grisham said. “(Lovejoy) was well-conditioned. I don't know how many times they went to five, but they pulled away.”

Wimberley closed it to 14-5, but that was as close as it would get. The Lady Leopards put it away on the next serve and advanced to the Class 3A state championship.

The Lady Texans finished 2009 with a 33-13 record and opened a lot of eyes – even their own.

“At the beginning of the season, a lot of people, including us, didn't think that this was even possible,” Wimberley senior Britney Schindler said. “We definitely showed a lot of improvement and that's success.”

For pictures, check out Sunday's print edition of the Daily Record.