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W I S E C O U N T Y M E S S E N G E R • W E D N E S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 4

2 0 1 4 D E C A T U R L A D Y E A G L E S

BY RICHARD [email protected]

Before starting the daunting task of defending a state title, Decatur senior setter Stormi Leonard pointed out her team might not be No. 1 all season with the tough road ahead.

But she also said the goal was the same as last year for her and the 11 returning players — including seven seniors.

“It’s hard to believe this is our last year,” Leonard said in July during the team’s preseason camp. “Our goal is to win state and take it all in.”

On the state’s largest stage at the University Interscholastic League volleyball championships at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, the Lady Eagles were once again back on top. Decatur closed out a second straight 40-win season with a 4A crown by defeating longtime rival Argyle.

“This year we really wanted it because we knew it would be tough to do it again,” said Makayla May-fi eld, who earned the MVP honor in the state fi nal. “We wanted to accept that challenge and go out and win another state champion-ship.”

At times, the Lady Eagles made it look easy but there was adversi-ty. Playing in 6A showcase tourna-ments such as the Adidas Texas Vol-leyball Invitational, the Northwest

ISD Volleyball Classic and PSA Lone Star Circle of Champions, the Lady Eagles managed to win two-thirds of their 30 matches against larger schools before entering dis-trict.

They also had to restructure their lineup after the loss of returning middle blocker Dylana Hutchins, who suffered a season-ending back injury.

A sweep at the hands of Coppell Sept. 16 was the fi nal loss for the Lady Eagles. They won their next 20 matches — all but three in three games. Decatur rolled its district winning streak to 56 matches.

In the region fi nal, after dropping

the fi rst set, the Lady Eagles rallied to win three state and eliminate last year’s 2A champions — Bushland.

Then in the state championship match against rival Argyle — a team they had faced the previous two postseasons — the Lady Eagles proved again their resolve. At set point in the pivotal third set, Deca-tur fought back with fi ve straight points to take the game.

“I can’t describe what happened during that set because it was so crazy,” Leonard said. “We knew what it was like after losing that second set so close. That third set, something lit under us. We knew we had to fi nish it. We didn’t want to

go fi ve and weren’t going to go fi ve.”A set later, the task was complete.

The state title trophy was back in their grasp.

“I couldn’t be more proud of thisteam. These four led the way,” said Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay,nodding to Leonard, Mayfi eld, Coo-per Martin and Caroline Lowery inthe post-match press conference. “They’ve been on varsity four years. They put up with me for four years, which is a feat in itself.

“I’m very hard on them. I have high expectations of them. They’ve led this team to what they wanted to end their careers at Decatur. I’m very proud of them.”

Back on Top

GREENE

Lady Eagles reach goal, repeating as champs

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprints

LIFTING THE TROPHY AGAIN — The Decatur Lady Eagles celebrate second state title.

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2 Wise County Messenger, Decatur, Texas • Wednesday, November 26, 2014

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JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprintsWHAT A RUSH — Decatur players storm the fl oor and pile onto teammates after the fi nal point of Saturday’s Class 4A title match. Decatur beat Argyle in four games to claim their second state title.

Doubling upLady Eagles hold off Argyle to win second state title


Trailing Argyle 24-21, the Deca-tur Lady Eagles found themselves on the verge of falling down 2-1 in the 4A fi nal Saturday.

But the defending state champi-ons refused to let the set get away. Starting with a Cooper Martin kill, Decatur went on a 5-0 run to take the set 26-24 on a tip from Caroline Lowery.

“I don’t know,” Lowery said trying

to explain the team’s rally. “We had to dig deep for that one. It was super intense.”

Decatur rode the momentum from the rally to a fourth-set victory and their second straight state crown. Decatur defeated Argyle 25-14, 27-

29, 26-24, 25-19 at the University Interscholastic League volleyball championships at the Curtis Cul-well Center in Garland.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team and these seniors,” said coach

See Title on page 4

Wise County Messenger, Decatur, Texas • Wednesday, November 26, 2014 3

BACK-TO-BACK STATE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS 2014 DECATUR LADY EAGLES

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Claire Benedict-Gay.Decatur fi nished the season at

40-10 and ended the year with 20 straight victories.

But the one victory that mattered to Decatur’s seven seniors was Sat-urday’s and capturing the state title for a second straight year.

“It’s one of the sweetest feelings you could have to fi nish our run as Eagles, win and get the gold med-als,” said Decatur senior setter Stormi Leonard, who dished out 59 assists in her fi nal match.

A meeting with Argyle for the third straight postseason provided the expected drama from a budding rivalry. Decatur stormed through the fi rst set behind the hitting of Makayla Mayfi eld, she put down seven of her match-best 21 kills in the opening game.

Mayfi eld earned the 4A title match MVP, making 16 digs to go along with her kills.

“This is really awesome. I really enjoyed fi nishing out that way and winning state again,” Mayfi eld said.

Argyle fought back, taking a 23-21 lead on a Katy Keenan block in the second set. Keenan made two of her six blocks in the set. She also had a team-high 15 kills.

Decatur rallied to take a lead on a Martin kill. Decatur then three times got to set point with Argyle staving it off. Argyle evened the match on a Decatur error with a 29-27 win.

With its tough play at the net, Ar-gyle jumped in front in the third set and took a 20-17 advantage on Al-exa Bass’ ace.

Benedict-Gay then called one of

her few timeouts of the season.“I don’t call timeouts often un-

less I see them frazzled,” the Deca-tur coach explained. “A lot of times I let them get themselves out of a bind. It was defi nitely time to talk to them. They just needed to calm down. I needed to remind them they are in this together.

“This is a family. We win as family or lose as a family.”

Decatur couldn’t immediately get itself back in the set. Eighmy Dobbins’ kill put Argyle up 23-18. Argyle got to set point, 24-21, on Keenan’s kill.

But Decatur refused to just move ahead to the fourth set.

“As a team, we focus on the points at hand,” Leonard said. “Every point mattered because all the sets were so close. Every set we were just focused on that set. They gave us all they had.”

Decatur took the next fi ve points starting with one of Martin’s 17 kills. Maclaine Lowery then brought Decatur within a point forcing a ser-vice-receive error with a hard serve. A pair of Argyle hitting errors put Decatur ahead for Lowery to earn the win and all the momentum.

“It was a battle. We let that third set get away,” said Argyle coach Clark Oberle. “If we could’ve gotten two more points, it may have been a differ-ent story.”

Lowery’s tip to end the third set was one of several tips for Deca-tur after they adjusted to Argyle’s blocking. Argyle had seven blocks but none in the fi nal set.

“Stormi did a good job late whenthey started stacking on our hitterswith their block of mixing the ballaround and getting us shots theyweren’t ready for,” Martin said.

Lowery’s tip put Decatur up 8-5 in set four. The lead grew to 15-6 on a Martin kill.

After back-to-back kills for Low-ery made it 22-14, Argyle closed within four, 23-19. But Lowery ended the run with a kill. Court-nie Roberts then tipped home thematch and state championship win-ning point.

“It’s indescribable,” Lowery said.“And to be able to do it with my bestfriends is amazing.”



Title: Lady Eagles repeat as champsContinued from page 3 Decatur def. Argyle

Argyle 14 29 24 19Decatur 25 27 26 25

ArgyleKills: Katy Keenan 15, Halee Van Poppel 11, Alexa Bass 7, Eighmy Dobbins 5, Allison White 5Assists: Bass 19, Strealy Sizelove 18, Maddie DeGuire 2, Dobbins 2, Keenan 1, Emma Malone 1Digs: Keenan 12, Van Poppel 12, Bass 11, DeGuire 11, Dobbins 7, Sizelove 6, Malone 2Aces: DeGuire 4, Dobbins 2, Bass 1Attack by SetSet Kills Errors Pct.1 8 5 .0652 12 5 .1593 14 5 .1784 9 3 .250Total 43 20 .160DecaturKills: Makayla Mayfield 21, Caroline Lowery 19, Cooper Martin 17, Courtnie Roberts 6, Stormi Leonard 2, Raena Slate 1, Taylor Uselton 1Assists: Leonard 59, Martin 2, Kelsie Worley 2, Maclaine Lowery 2, Mayfield 1Digs: Maclaine Lowery 18, Mayfield 16, Martin 15, Caroline Lowery 12, Roberts 1, Uselton 1Aces: Mayfield 2, Caroline Lowery 2, Roberts 1, Maclaine Lowery 1 Attack by SetSet Kills Errors Pct.1 17 3 .4382 22 6 .3203 13 6 .1594 15 5 .333Total 67 20 .301

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprintsTITLE DEFENSE — Decatur’s Emily Oxford and Caroline Lowery jump to block a shot during the Lady Eagles’ 4A title win Saturday.

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Long road back to topSeason ResultsSeason Record: 40-10

8-4A record: 8-0Playoffs record: 7-0

Azle 25-15, 25-19, 25-10Joshua 25-14, 25-12, 25-17Round Rock McNeil 25-20, 25-22Houston Bellaire 23-25, 25-18, 25-16League City Clear Falls 22-25, 15-25Leander Rouse 25-23, 25-19Lewisville Marcus 25-16, 25-18Austin Westlake 25-13, 25-23Pearland 19-25, 18-25San Antonio Alamo Heights 25-23, 19-25, 9-15Aledo 20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18, 6-15Hereford 25-18, 20-25, 25-13North Richland Hills Birdville 25-18, 25-16Arlington Lamar 25-20, 25-20Saginaw Boswell 25-15, 25-19Prosper 21-25, 25-20, 23-25Frisco Wakeland 25-18, 25-23Waco Midway 23-25, 25-21, 25-17Rockwall Heath 19-25, 12-25Brock 25-15, 25-21, 25-18Allen 23-25, 25-23, 25-15Prosper 26-24, 20-25, 15-25Garland Sachse 25-14, 25-19Grapevine 25-14, 25-16Austin Westlake 22-25, 25-17, 25-27Prosper 25-20, 20-25, 13-25Keller Fossil Ridge 25-18, 25-22, 25-18Fort Worth Chisholm Trail 25-8, 25-12, 23-25, 25-8Denton Ryan 25-18, 25-12, 25-16Coppell 12-25, 21-25, 22-25Abilene Wylie 25-15, 25-13, 25-20Argyle 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24Lake Worth 25-6, 25-10, 25-10Mansfield Legacy 25-11, 25-10, 25-16Castleberry 25-5, 25-0, 25-4Bridgeport 25-5, 25-9, 25-4Springtown 25-9, 25-16, 25-13Lake Worth 25-6, 25-12, 25-5Grapevine 25-20, 25-11, 25-18Castleberry 25-6, 25-7, 25-9Bridgeport 25-9, 25-5, 25-4Springtown 25-13, 25-7, 25-11Aledo 25-22, 25-18, 25-15

PlayoffsVenus 25-6, 25-3, 25-7Iowa Park 25-5, 25-16, 25-8Stephenville 25-17, 25-12, 25-14

Region I TournamentBig Spring 25-19, 25-13, 25-14Bushland 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17

State TournamentRobinson 25-18, 25-19, 25-7Argyle 25-14, 27-29, 26-24, 25-19

4A Region I Bi-districtDecatur def. Venus

Starting the postseason portion of their state title defense, the Decatur Lady Eagles looked in champion-ship form. Behind merciless hitting, brilliant decision-making and pinpoint serving, the Lady Eagles dispatched Venus in three sets, 25-6, 25-3, 25-7, in their Class 4A Region I Bi-district match at Chisholm Trail High School. “We wanted to come out focused, have fun and set a tone for how we’re going to play in the playoffs,” said senior hitter Makayla Mayfi eld, who led the team with 12 kills. Playing the fourth-place team from District 7-4A, Decatur (34-10) never let underdog Venus (18-20) in the match. Venus scored back-to-back points only four times. “I feel every match we’ve got to get better,” said De-catur coach Claire Benedict-Gay. “That’s the mentality we have to keep.” Offensively, Decatur buried 43 kills. Setter Stormi Leonard worked the ball around with six different play-ers registering kills. Courtnie Roberts put down 11. Caroline Lowery added eight and Cooper Martin seven. “All of our offense got some swings,” Benedict-Gay said. “We’ve worked hard in practice moving the ball around. It’s good to see that carry over from practice.” The Lady Eagles would have had more kills if their serving hadn’t been so sharp. Decatur fi nished with 12 aces. Martin led the way with four. Mayfi eld added three. “Our serving was consistent,” Mayfi eld said. “We kept the ball in play.” With back-to-back kills from Emily Oxford and a fi n-isher from Martin, Decatur jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the opening set. The Lady Eagles’ lead grew to 23-4 with a Martin block and kill. The set ended on a Venus error. Martin’s second ace in a 10-point stretch gave Deca-tur a 13-1 lead to start the second game. After a pair of Venus points, Mayfi eld put down a kill and then went to the service line. She served out the fi nal 11 points, ending the set with an ace. Mayfi eld served the fi rst fi ve points in the third game with Leonard’s kill making it 5-0. Maclaine Lowery’s two aces put Decatur up 13-6. Venus scored just one more point in the match. Roberts

and Mayfi eld took turns burying shots in a closing 9-0 run. Leonard ended the match with a block – her fourth of the night.

4A Region I areaDecatur def. Iowa Park

The Decatur Lady Eagles continued their defense of last year’s state championship with a solid 25-5, 25-16, 25-8 win over Iowa Park in the Class 4A Region I area match at Jacksboro. Decatur (32-9) led 15-4 in the fi rst game before Iowa Park was able to put a kill on the fl oor. After a missed serve, Caroline Lowery went to the serving line for Decatur, and the Lady Eagles scored the next 10 points unanswered. Lowery had an ace, Makayla Mayfi eld and Emily Ox-ford had kills, and Cooper Martin dinked one in — but several points also came on blocks as the Lady Hawks had no answer for Decatur’s lineup at the net.


WINNING FEELING —Decatur’s Stormi Leonard celebrates a point with her teammates during the Lady Eagles’ sweep of Venus.

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In the second set, things got a little more interesting as Decatur had a few lapses in communication that allowed balls to fall in. Decatur jumped up 7-1 early, but Iowa Park kept hanging around. It was 16-6 when a long pause in the action to discuss an Iowa Park substitution seemed to throw the Lady Eagles off their rhythm. After Mayfi eld landed a kill, a Decatur block went out of bounds, then a serve went long. It was 22-10 when Decatur missed a dig, Iowa Park landed a dink and Decatur let an easy ball drop. Iowa Park blocked a kill, then Decatur was called in the net on a kill and it was 22-15, with lots of excitement on the Iowa Park side. But when Martin pounded a kill to the fl oor, Lowery went back to the serving line at 23-15. After a kill by Iowa Park, Mayfi eld an-swered with a hard cross-court kill from the side to end the rally. The third set started with a long rally that ended when Martin put down on an-other kill. It was 4-2 before successive kills by Courtnie Roberts, Mayfi eld and then Roberts again prompted an Iowa Park timeout. The Decatur girls went on an 11-1 tear to fi nish off the match, led by Mayfi eld, Martin, Lowery and Roberts. Setter Stormi Leonard ended the contest with a patented dink shot that made it to the fl oor. Leonard fi nished with 33 assists to go with her six digs, a kill, an ace and a block. Mayfi eld had a strong match at the net with 20 kills. She also had nine digs and two blocks. Martin put down 10 kills to go with four digs, a block and an ace. Maclaine Lowery made 20 digs as De-

catur defended most of Iowa Park’s hits at the net. She also served two aces. Caroline Lowery fi nished with six kills, six digs and four aces. Roberts put down fi ve kills and had three blocks and three digs. Oxford had two kills and a block, and Taylor Uselton had a dig.

4A Region I Region Quarterfi nalDecatur def. Stephenville

Tested at the net by Stephenville’s hitters, the Decatur Lady Eagles simply refused to let the ball hit the fl oor. The Lady Eagles made 52 digs, turn-ing aside Stephenville shots. Decatur then fi nished points with near-pinpoint accuracy from multiple hitters to sweep the Class 4A Region I quarterfi nal, 25-17, 25-12, 25-14, at Weatherford High School. “We knew we’d have to play our ‘A’ game, and we tried to be as scrappy as we could,” said Decatur senior Cooper Martin, who put down 14 kills, blocked two shots, made seven digs and served four aces. Decatur responded to a strong Ste-phenville attack led by Morgan Gibson, who registered a team-high 10 kills, with solid blocking at the net and deter-mination to keep the ball in play. Emily Oxford made fi ve of the Lady Eagles’ eight blocks. Makayla Mayfi eld led a trio of Decatur players in double fi gures in digs with 14. Maclaine Lowery had 11 and Caroline Lowery 10. “They were very aggressive and had some good hitters who were putting the ball in some spots we weren’t used to playing,” said Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay. “We adjusted to their hit-ters and played good defense.” The Stephenville defense had few answers for the Decatur offense that put down 48 kills and hit .433 for the match. Six different Lady Eagles regis-

tered kills, with Mayfi eld and Martin fi n-ishing with 14 apiece. Caroline Lowery added nine and Courtnie Roberts fi ve. “Everyone across the net stepped up,” Benedict-Gay said. “That’s our strength — having several people who can put the ball down. Stormi [Leonard] did a great job spreading the ball around.” Leonard handed out 38 assists and called her own number three times. In the fi rst set after Stephenville had rallied to cut Decatur’s six-point advan-tage to two at 15-13, Leonard called Caroline Lowery’s number to put the end to the run. Martin then put down four of her six kills in the set to put the Lady Eagles up 21-16. Martin wore Stephen-ville’s defense out, hitting down the line. “That’s my favorite shot,” Martin said. Mayfi eld and Lowery tips ended the set. Lowery landed back-to-back aces to get Decatur out to a 7-3 lead in the sec-ond set. Decatur fi nished with nine aces on the night and served at a 90.3 clip. Three kills from Martin in four points put the Lady Eagles up 19-10. Mayfi eld then fi nished off the set with a kill. Decatur fell behind in the third set 6-4 on a Codi Beyer ace. Mayfi eld landed back-to-back kills to even the game and send Decatur on a 13-2 run to build a

17-8 advantage. After Roberts’ kill put the Lady Eagles at match point, Mayfi eld fi nished it off.

4A Region I Semifi nalDecatur def. Big Spring

The Decatur Lady Eagles struggled to break out of an early slumber against Big Spring until Caroline Lowery deliv-ered a wake-up call late in the fi rst set. Lowery punished back-to-back kills to put Decatur (37-10) in front 18-17. The Lady Eagles never trailed again on the way to a sweep of Big Spring in the 4A Region I semifi nal at The Coliseum in Snyder. “We weren’t expecting them to come out with as much fi re. We knew they wanted to beat us after last year,” said Lowery, who fi nished with 12 kills, two aces and 1.5 blocks. “Once we got calm, everything came together.” Decatur won 25-19, 25-13, 25-14, making a region fi nal for a third straight year. Decatur defeated Big Spring last year in the 3A semifi nal in three sets. Big Spring looked determined early for a different outcome behind the hitting of junior middle blocker Erin Pollard, who

Long road: Decatur makes run to another titleContinued from page 5


VICTORY -— Cooper Martin pumps her fi st as her teammates cheer in the background. Martin downed a dozen of the Lady Eagles’ 39 kills against Big Spring.

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put down three early kills. She fi nished with eight. Decatur also helped Big Spring early with three service errors and four hitting errors. With her team down 14-12, Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay called a time-out. “This team feels pressure, like they have a statement to make,” said Bene-dict-Gay. “It took them a second to calm down and realize that they can control their side of the net.” Even after the timeout, Decatur trailed until Lowery buried a kill with a big swing. Decatur setter Stormi Leon-ard immediately went back to Lowery for another kill to put the Lady Eagles in front. “She defi nitely stepped up and made some great shots,” Benedict-Gay said. “She’s just a fi ghter. It’s been a few matches since I’ve seen that level from her. It’s good to see.” Decatur ran off nine of the fi nal 11 points in the set. Makayla Mayfi eld’s kill put the Lady Eagles at game point. Lowery’s ace fi nished off the set. Lowery started the second set with a kill and then extended the Lady Eagles’ lead to 4-1 with a blast to the center of the fl oor. “Our mentality was to crush them,” Lowery said. “We wanted to keep push-ing them down and didn’t want them to come back.” Two Courtnie Roberts blocks and one from Lowery stretched Decatur’s advan-tage to 15-8. A Leonard ace made it game point. Mayfi eld then fi nished off the set with one of her nine kills. Sensing a chance for the sweep, Deca-tur jumped to a 10-3 lead in the third set on a Roberts ace. Decatur fi nished with eight aces and served at 87.8 percent.

The Decatur advantage grew to 10, 24-14, on a Cooper Martin kill. Martin put down 12 of the Lady Eagles’ 39 kills. Decatur hit .330 for the match. Stormi Leonard dished out 31 assists. Her fi nal assist on the left side allowed Lowery to appropriately end the match with a kill off the Big Spring block.

4A Region I FinalDecatur def. Bushland

In the clash of defending state champi-ons, the Decatur Lady Eagles absorbed the fi rst body blows from Bushland and middle blocker Anna Graham. But the Lady Eagles (39-10) quickly got off the canvas after dropping the first set, making adjustments and beginning to land their own punches. Behind the clutch hitting of Caroline Lowery and Makayla Mayfield, they took the final three sets and the Class 4A Region I Final at Western Texas College’s The Coliseum in Sny-der. Decatur won 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17. “They came out with fi re, and we were a little nervous because we knew it was only one game to state,” said Lowery, who was named the 4A Region I tourna-ment MVP after putting down 16 kills in the fi nal. “We worried too much about what they were doing [in the fi rst set] instead of what we needed to do. After that, we started to play our game.” Bushland (37-5), last year’s 2A cham-pions, had the Lady Eagles on the ropes early behind Graham, who buried 17 kills from the middle of the fl oor. “Their middle blocker was phenom-enal. That’s something we’ve not seen,” Leonard said. “That’s not the game we play, and it’s something we’re not used to.” Decatur also struggled to handle Bush-land’s serving and to get a good pass to get into its offense.

Bushland took the lead 13-12 on the fi rst of two Decatur service errors in the opening set. That started a 6-0 run for the Lady Falcons. Bushland captured the set on another Decatur service error. After dropping their fi rst set in a while, Decatur rebounded quickly. “From our tough preseason, we played some really tough teams that pushed us, and we knew what it was like to be in the situation — to be down and have to come back,” Lowery said. Mayfi eld put Decatur up 6-3 with a big swing in the second set. The Lady Ea-gles then got their two middles, Court-nie Roberts and Emily Oxford, involved in the offense, putting down kills around another from Mayfi eld to put Decatur up 10-4. Mayfi eld fi nished the second set with a kill. Decatur jumped out to a 5-0 lead in set three and took a 16-7 advantage on a Mayfi eld kill that bounced off a Bush-land defender and nearly made it into the stands. Mayfi eld fi nished the set with one of her 18 kills. With a state berth in sight, Decatur took a 12-6 lead in set four on a Roberts block. A Roberts kill made it 19-10. Lowery increased the lead to 23-16. Two Bushland hitting errors closed the match — and sent the Lady Eagles back to state.

4A State Semifi nalDecatur def. Robinson

In their return to the state stage, the Decatur Lady Eagles looked right at home Friday afternoon. Behind pinpoint serving and a versa-tile attack, the Lady Eagles dispatched Robinson in the 4A semifi nals of the University Interscholastic League volley-ball championships at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.

Decatur won 25-18 25-19 25-7. The Lady Eagles moved to 3-0 and have won nine straight games at the state tourna-ment in the past two years. The bright state lights had little effect on the Lady Eagles. In the third set, the Lady Eagles put Robinson away with fi ve of their nine aces. Lowery and Makayla Mayfi eld served two each. Cooper Martin buried four kills. “We had a game plan coming in. We wanted to make sure we attacked at the pins and wanted to keep them out of system with our serving,” said Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay. Decatur had just one service error in the match. Lowery and Courtnie Roberts served three aces each. Decatur jumped out to a 15-5 lead on Stormi Leonard’s lone kill. A Lowery ace made it 20-4. After a pair of Robinson points at match point, Mayfi eld ended the match with her 15th kill. Decatur put down 42 kills, hitting .323 for the match. The Lady Eagles hit .500, putting down 13 of their 24 chances in the fi nal set. Martin fi nished with 12 kills and Low-ery nine. Leonard doled out 37 assists. Defensively, the Lady Eagles made 53 digs and limited Robinson’s Bailey Meggs to seven kills on 34 attacks. Ma-claine Lowery made 17 digs and Leonard 15. Decatur used a 9-2 run early in the fi rst set to take an 11-5 lead on a Caroline Lowery ace. The Lady Eagles maintained the edge, taking the game by seven. The Lady Eagles again jumped out to an early advantage in the second set, 5-1, on a Mayfi eld ace and Robinson er-ror. Robinson never got closer than four the rest of the game. Down 2-0, Robinson had no answer in game three.

Long road: Lady Eagles fly to top of 4AContinued from page 6

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2014 DECATUR LADY EAGLES BACK-TO-BACK STATE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSWise County Messenger, Decatur, Texas • Wednesday, November 26, 2014 9


#1Stormi Leonard .................. Sr.

#2Raena Slate .................... Soph.

#3Abbie Heines .................. Soph.

#4Kelsie Worley ................. Soph.

#5Dylana Hutchins .................Jr.

#6Maclaine Lowery .......... Soph.

#7Marta Bottani ..................... Sr.

#8Presley Gibson ....................Jr.

#9Taylor Uselton .................... Sr.

#10Cooper Martin ..................... Sr.

#11Makayla Mayfi eld ............... Sr.

#12Courtnie Roberts .......... Soph.

#14Ariana Buchanan ............... Sr.

#15Emily Oxford ........................Jr.

#16Caroline Lowery ................. Sr.

#17Kelsie Roberts .............. Soph.

Head CoachClaire Gay

Assistant CoachesCourtney Daughtery, Lorna Franke,

Brandy Mayfi eld and Reagan Skates

ManagersMorgan Taylor and Brittany Roberts

Athletic Trainer - Sheree Colson

MESSENGER PHOTO BY JOE DUTY



Mayfi eld shines in title matchBY RICHARD [email protected]

On her way to earning Wise Coun-ty Female Athlete of the Year last year, Makayla Mayfi eld was best characterized by coaches and team-mates as unfl appable.

She showed that again Saturday in the 4A state title match against Argyle.

Mayfi eld buried a match-best 21 kills on 52 attacks, hitting .250. She also made 16 digs on defense and served a pair of aces as Decatur cap-tured its second straight state cham-pionship.

Mayfi eld earned the MVP of the fi nals with her performance.

“It was awesome,” Mayfi eld said. “I really enjoyed fi nishing that way.”

Performing on the big stage was nothing new for Mayfi eld, a four-year standout on the volleyball court.

As a sophomore, she helped Deca-tur to the region fi nal. She earned 9-3A Defensive Player of the Year after a team-leading 349 digs and serving 60 aces. She also added 351 kills, including 17 in the region fi nal against Argyle.

In her junior season, Mayfi eld re-corded a team-high 508 kills and made 540 digs. She also had 79 aces and 34 blocks.

“Makayla was the rock for the team. She was always the go-to person,” said Decatur setter Stormi Leonard over the summer. “You could never tell she had the whole team, all the pressure, on her.”

After leading the Lady Eagles back against Argyle last postseason, she continued her strong play through the state title match.

She was named Class 3A volley-ball Player of the Year by the Texas

Sportswriters Association, 9-3A MVP and Wise County MVP in vol-leyball.

But those weren’t the only high-lights of her junior year. Mayfi eld quickly joined the Lady Eagles bas-ketball team, averaging 3.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Just as she did in volleyball, May-fi eld came up huge in big moments. In the 9-3A tiebreaker against Krum, Mayfi eld helped lead a second-half surge with her on-the-ball defense. Her steal and layup in the fourth quarter started a game-winning run.

In the 3A Region II area game

against Princeton, Mayfi eld was forced to play heavy minutes due to an injury to guard Murphy Gra-ham and foul trouble. In the closing seconds, her team was down 47-45. Backup point guard Sidney Carter fought through the press and got the ball to Mayfi eld on the wing.

Mayfi eld, who had not hit a 3-pointer all season before hitting one in the fi rst half, drained the shot from the wing at the buzzer to give Decatur the 48-47 victory.

“I’m not the person to give it to at the end of the game,” Mayfi eld re-called. “It happened really fast. I just threw it up there. When it went in, I

was in shock.”Back on the volleyball court this

fall, she was determined to help theLady Eagles get back to the statetournament. She put down 496 kills,hitting .312 for the season. She alsomade a team-high 543 digs andserved 65 aces.

Saturday, after her fi nal perfor-mance as a Lady Eagle, she was onceagain a champion.

“This year we really wanted itbecause we knew it would be toughto do it again,” said Mayfi eld. “Wewanted to accept that challenge andgo out and win another state cham-pionship.”


TOP HONOR — Makayla Mayfi eld accepts the 4A title match MVP award.

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Leading way back to top


While hanging out with a pair of Decatur quarterbacks, Gray-son Muehlstein and Justin Myers, Stormi Leonard got a few lessons on taking a snap and dropping back to pass.

“I’ve always wanted to play foot-ball,” Leonard said. “But I never could.”

Though not on the gridiron, Leon-ard was undoubtedly the quarter-back for the Decatur Lady Eagles volleyball team the past three sea-sons.

Leonard, a four-year varsity play-er, is the school record holder for as-sists with 3,955 over her career.

She handed out 1,356 on the way to the 3A crown in 2013. This year on the way to repeating as state cham-pions, she doled out 1,433.

But the all-state setter meant far more to the Lady Eagles than those numbers show.

“She’s the whole package,” said Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay. “She brings a lot of life to the fl oor. She’s always dancing and smiling. She’s very entertaining.”

Leonard also bears the brunt of her coach’s displeasure when some-thing goes wrong.

“She takes the most heat from me. I’m harder on her than anyone,” the coach explains.

The job description isn’t ideal: part cheerleader, quarterback, psycholo-gist and fall-guy.

“Some days are harder than oth-ers, but I wouldn’t want another job,”

Leonard said. “You have to have lots of patience and the ability to work with everyone — the different hitters and passers. You also have to deal with the coach and refs.

“If a hit isn’t right or a pass wasn’t good, it’s up to me to fi x the mistake.”

Leonard started playing setter in

junior high after she realized herheight (5-7) would limit her as a hit-ter.

“I’m short,” Leonard said with adead-pan delivery. “I used to hit, andthen in seventh grade, I accepted thefact that I’m not going to be a hitter.”

She started working with formerDecatur standout Fleming Smurth-waite, and by her freshman year, shewas a part-time setter on the LadyEagles’ varsity with Joey Redwine.

The job was hers full-time the pastthree years.

In her fi nal match Saturday, thequarterback turned in a Super Bowlcaliber performance, handing out 59assists — 20 more than her entirefreshman year.

And it was her audibles in the of-fense to get around a tough Argyleblock that allowed Decatur to rally inthe third set and win the title in thefourth.

“Stormi did a good job late, whenthey started stacking on our hitterswith their block, of mixing the ball around and getting us shots theyweren’t ready for,” said senior Coo-per Martin.

But as most quarterbacks givecredit to their offensive line, Leon-ard quickly defl ected any credit to her hitters.

“The hitters did a great job of taking care of the ball and good jobadjusting to the good and bad thatI gave them,” Leonard said. “Theywere doing everything they could tokeep the ball in play.”

Few quarterbacks get a chance toleave as a state champion. Leonard has now experienced that twice.

“To fi nish out our run as an Ea-gle and get a gold medal is insane,” Leonard said.


BIG HELPING HAND — Decatur senior setter Stormi Leonard hands out one of her 59 assists in the 4A title match win over Argyle Saturday.

Leonard racks up 59

assists in fi nals

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Congratulations on Back To Back State Champions!




WE ARE FAMILY — The Decatur Lady Eagles have a mother and daughter, Brandy and Makayla Mayfi eld (front) and four sets of sisters — Caroline and Maclaine Lowery, Kelsie, Courtnie and Brittany Roberts, Cooper and Carson Martin, and Morgan and Haleigh Taylor — in the program this year.

Family ties help secure crownBY RICHARD [email protected]

Maclaine Lowery’s light hearted nature and jokes don’t always sit well with her older sister, Caroline.

“I get annoyed with her,” the older Lowery said. “She’ll also argue with me. I’m a senior and that’s disre-spectful. We defi nitely have our ups and downs.”

But the opportunity to share the

experience on the volleyball court the past two years — including win-ning two state titles — makes up for any of the down times.

“I do get annoyed with her, but I’m thankful for the experience,”

Caroline explains. “There’s notmany sisters who can say they’vewon a state title together.”

This past year, the Lowerys were

See Family on page 13

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far from unique in a Decatur vol-leyball program that features more than a couple of family relation-ships — with four sets of sisters and a mother-daughter combination.

“Because we have so many fam-ily bonds it makes us closer,” said senior Cooper Martin, whose fresh-man sister Carson joined the pro-gram this year. “We treat the others like sisters also.”

Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay said those family relations can keep it interesting but have also helped with the program’s winning culture.

“We’ve always stressed that we are a family and rely on each other, not only in volleyball but life,” Benedict-Gay said. “They’ve learned how to hold each other accountable and be there for each other in the tough times.”

Assistant coach Brandy Mayfi eld and her daughter, senior Makayla, have perhaps the most unique rela-tionship. But early on, the two set parameters to keep volleyball from tearing them apart.

“We learned to leave it at school,” Coach Mayfi eld said.

But despite their best efforts, sometimes it becomes dinner con-versation.

On the court, Makayla likes hav-ing her mother there to talk to.

“During a timeout, I can talk to her and she helps me to focus and do better,” she said.

Coach Mayfi eld enjoys the chance to help her daughter and the oppor-tunity to share in the team’s suc-cess.

“I get to experience it on both ends as a coach and mother,” she said.

Family: Relationships tie champs togetherContinued from page 12

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER

SISTER ACT — Maclaine and Caroline Lowery celebrate after the Lady Eagles vcitory Saturday over Argyle in four sets. The Lowerys are one of several sisters in the program.

Sophomore middle blocker Court-nie Roberts has a pair of sisters in the program, her twin sister Kelsie, who plays on the junior varsity, and senior manager Brittany.

“We haven’t all three been on the same team together since we were 8 and 9,” Courtnie said. “It’s weird for all of us to be in the same program.”

Brittany took over as a manager this year to spend time with her younger sisters.

“I wanted to be with them as a se-nior,” she said.

Brittany and Kelsie are also stal-warts in the Decatur softball pro-gram. They are hoping to get Court-nie to join them the diamond this year.

While Courtnie and Kelsie are twins, they are quite different.

“They have very different person-alities,” Brittany interjects.

On Feb. 22, 1999, Courtnie was born two minutes before Kelsie.

“I’ll forever hold that over her head,” Courtnie joked.

They were also 2 ounces and 2 inches apart.

Now, Courtnie towers over both her sisters.

“She’s forever my little big sister,” Brittany said.

Courtnie also happens to be the one the other two sisters turn to.

“We both get along with Courtnie better,” Kelsie said.

Brittany adds: “Her personality is unique.”

Brittany Roberts shares manag-ing duties with Morgan Taylor, who is also helping freshman sister Ha-leigh fi nd her way as a fi rst-year player in the program.

“It’s been great. It’s something we can share together,” Taylor said. “Before, we were always in different places. This has helped strengthen our relationship.”

Morgan played her freshman and sophomore seasons before stepping into her support role.

“I’m in charge of everything,” she points out as she tells Brittany Rob-erts what to wear for a photo.

Haleigh adds: “She’s sometimes bossy, but most of the time she’s helpful.”

Another senior, Cooper Martin, has welcomed her freshman sister, Carson, who is playing on the junior varsity.

“It’s fun getting to take her topractice and having a person to talkto,” Cooper said.

Carson claims having her oldersister with her helped her settle inquickly.

“On the fi rst day, I was more comfortable with her,” Carson said. “She’s also my partner in the weightroom. She’s been able to show me what to do during workouts.”

But as the younger sister of a four-year varsity standout, Carson said there are high expectations.

“I wanted to be in her shoes butalso, they are hard shoes to fi ll,”Carson admitted.

Because of her light hearted na-ture, Maclaine Lowery is used tojokes at her expense from her oldersister and others.

“I’m more of the punching bag, but it’s good. I’m used to it,” she said.

Caroline adds: “We make fun of her a lot because she falls down a lot.”

One thing Caroline does not laughabout is being late for workouts inthe morning while waiting on Ma-claine.

Trailing in the third set of thestate fi nal against Argyle, Benedict-Gay rallied the Lady Eagles dur-ing a timeout, reminding them that they truly were a family.

“With such talent on this team,it’s easy to become individuals,” theDecatur coach said. “I had to remind them that this is a team sport. They had to do this together.

“We’ve talked about this for fouryears. This is a family. We win as a family or lose as a family. You can’t do it individually.”

It’ll forever be a family of cham-pions.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“I have been coming to the state tournament with my dad every year since 2008, but this year it was dif-ferent. It was all I’ve ever hoped and dreamed of. As a little girl, I looked up to all of the girls playing on that court and to fi nally be one of them was one of the best things that has ever happened to me (and my dad) — and to have become a state champion is overwhelming. Words can’t begin to describe how grateful I am to have gotten this opportunity with such a great group of people. The memories I have made the past couple weeks of being on this team will be forever, and I couldn’t ask for a greater weekend — even if my name was changed to Abbie HeLens on the state shirt.”

Abbie Heiens,Sophomore

“To sum the game or season up in 100 words is diffi cult. Not very many people understand the amount of time and energy it requires to be that successful, twice. And even fewer have felt that much overwhelming happiness to achieve a goal you’ve had for years. Looking up in the stands and seeing that many people supporting us was incredible. The stands were full of blue, hardly a seat left to sit in. That game was the best way I could have fi nished my career as a Lady Eagle, and I still can’t believe it’s over.”

Stormi Leonard,Senior

“This was a great way to end my high school career — the relation-ships I have with these girls mean the world to me. I wouldn’t want this any other way or with any oth-

Decatur players share their thoughts on winning second state title


PICTURE PERFECT — Decatur players take selfi es during a photo shoot at the Wise County Messenger earlier this season.

er teammates. It’s been such a great honor to make history by earning back-to-back titles for Decatur — I was in awe when I looked up and saw the entire home side fi lled with blue. We have the best fans ever!”

Makayla Mayfi eldSenior

“Coming to state was a huge deal for me. I knew my role get-ting moved up was to gain experi-ence and get ready for next year.

It was so much sweeter coming home with new knowledge for the game and a gold medal to remember how hard we worked. The most special thing for me was winning a state game with my twin, Courtnie. She is amazing, and I look up to her. It felt good to be a part of something so big and happy with her. I know I have big shoes to fi ll.”

Kelsie Roberts,Sophomore

“Being a part of a team that made it to the state championship game was such a wonderful op-portunity. The whole thing seemed unreal at fi rst, and throughout the game, all I could think about was how lucky I was to be a part of it all. I love my team so much and I am going to miss them a lot. I am so happy to have experienced this with them.”

Raena Slate,Sophomore

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BY THE NUMBERS: 2014 FINAL STATS

HittingPlayer Kills Hitting Pct.Caroline Lowery 499 .316Makayla Mayfi eld 496 .312Cooper Martin 448 .315Courtnie Roberts 140 .236Emily Oxford 105 .225Dylana Hutchins 102 .285Stormi Leonard 91 .407Kelsie Worley 29 .122Raena Slate 7 .583Maclaine Lowery 3 .111Totals 1,920 .301

AssistsPlayer AssistsStormi Leonard 1,433Courtnie Roberts 84Maclaine Lowery 61Caroline Lowery 19Cooper Martin 14Ariana Buchanan 13Presley Gibson 13Makayla Mayfi eld 11Taylor Uselton 8Emily Oxford 6Dylana Hutchins 4Totals 1,666

Serving

Player Aces Pct.Caroline Lowery 93 89.2Makayla Mayfi eld 65 93.4Courtnie Roberts 54 88.8Stormi Leonard 53 95.5Maclaine Lowery 48 92.6Cooper Martin 39 95.2Dylana Hutchins 19 90Marta Bottoni 10 96Ariana Buchanan 9 96.6Kelsie Worley 4 91.7Emily Oxford 1 90.9Taylor Uselton 0 87.1Totals 398 92.5

DigsPlayer DigsMakayla Mayfi eld 543Maclaine Lowery 482Stormi Leonard 455Caroline Lowery 452Cooper Martin 316

Courtnie Roberts 178Ariana Buchanan 131Dylana Hutchins 72Taylor Uselton 67Emily Oxford 42Kelsie Worley 21Presley Gibson 15Marta Bottani 6Raena Slate 2Totals 2,782

BlocksPlayer BlocksEmily Oxford 104Cooper Martin 65Courtnie Roberts 51Dylana Hutchins 44Makayla Mayfi eld 34Stormi Leonard 34Caroline Lowery 31Kelsie Worley 6Raena Slate 1Totals 370


GOLDEN FINISH — Decatur Superintendent Rod Townsend gives Cooper Martin her gold medal.

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EMOTIONAL WIN — Ariana Buchanan hugs teammate Emily Oxford after the Lady Eagles’ win Saturday.


LEADING THE WAY — Decatur coach Claire Benedict-Gay makes a call fromthe bench.

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