New Braunfels rode the serving of Brittany Fowler in game 3 and the front line power of Erica Wendell and Jackie Lucas to victory over Sarah Griffin, Meagan Daniel and the defending 4A champion Hereford Whitefaces in a match that more than lived up to its advance billing.

New Braunfels will meet Red Oak Saturday afternoon for the championship of what has been the most competitive classification this season.

New Braunfels took an 11-8 lead in game before the 5'11" Griffin almost single handedly led the Lady Whitefaces on a 7-0 run over two rotations. Hereford jumped out to an 8-5 lead in game 2 before Lucas and Wendell led the Unicorns on a 6-0 run and another 11-8 advantage. Hereford rallied to within a point but this time New Braunfels was able to finish. In game 3, Hereford was unable to handle the serves of Fowler and Jenna Hartmann, who finished with 5 aces each. The Unicorn's first nine points came on aces or serve receive errors. Hereford managed to close within 11-8 before Wendell took over up front, twice blocking Griffin and tossing in a kill to lead New Braunfels back into the finals for the second time in two years.

Daniel led Hereford with 21 kills and 2 blocks. Griffin added 19 kills. Lucas had 14 kills and 2 solo blocks and Wendell added 10 kills to lead New Braunfels. Amanda Jergins had 35 assists for the Unicorns and Catherine Beville had 37 for Hereford.

"We knew going in to the match we needed to stop Griffin, but we never did truly stop her but we did make some key blocks and digs down the stretch," said New Braunfels coach Phyllis Fowler. "We did a good job and especially, Brittany (Fowler) who served the ball really tough and it came at a critical time."

Fowler had struggled recently with her serve. "Brittany worked real hard on her serve all last week," added Fowler.

"We realized in the second game when we were behind that we weren't putting the ball down and we needed to put it on the ground," said Cornelius. "We tried to be confident after losing the first set."

"The fundamental things hurt us - serve and serve receive. It's a little shocking because serve and serve receive has not been a problem this year," said Hereford coach Brenda Kitten, whose team had 10 service errors. "There were so many occasions where we had a chance to score and we missed the serve. The loss wasn't because of a lack of heart, we won four of the last five years and it's disappointing any time you lose. The fact that we hurt so bad right now shows how much we care."

"I knew they had a big block," said Griffin, who along with the other seniors lost only their second playoff match in two years.. "They were always there. Sometimes we hit it off their arms and sometimes they hit it back in our faces."

Statistical leaders

New Braunfels
Kills - Jackie Lucas 14, Erica Wendell 10, Gin Mozeley 6, Jenna Hartmann and Chelsea 5, Amanda Jergins 3
Assists - Amanda Jergins 35
Blocks - Erica Wendell 2S, 2A; Jackie Lucas 1S, 1A; Jenna Hartmann 2A; Gin Mozeley 1A.
Aces - Brittany Fowler and Jenna HArtmann 5, Chelsea Cornelius 3, Amanda Jergins 2, Gin Mozeley 1
Digs - Gin Mozeley 12, Brittany Fowler and Jenna Hartmann 10, Katie Johnson and Chelsea Cornelius 8

Hereford
Kills - Meagan Daniel 21, Sarah Griffin 19, Elizabeth Tarr 3
Assists - Catherine Beville 37
Aces - Sabrina Garcia 3, Catherine Beville and Meagan Daniel 2
Blocks - Meagan Daniel 2S; Erin Charest 1S
Digs - Tiffany Mercer 13, Catherine Beville 9, Meagan Daniel 7, Erin Charest and Tiffany Koenig 3