Rattlers’ late rally comes up short
KATY — Reagan, which has proved naysayers wrong during its 2020 playoff run, almost did it again on Monday.
But the Rattlers’ rally fell short as Katy Seven Lakes prevailed 2516, 25-16, 21-25, 24-26, 15-12 in their Class 6A state semifinal at the Merrell Center.
Reagan (21-4) was making its first state semifinal appearance since 2016 and its fourth overall.
The Rattlers were San Antonio’s last team standing, and it was a run that seemed unlikely at the beginning of the postseason. Reagan finished second to Brandeis, having lost to the Broncos twice during the regular season, in the District 28-6A standings.
The Rattlers avenged those defeats by defeating Brandeis in four sets to secure a spot in the state semifinals. Before that, Reagan ousted previously unbeaten Austin Lake Travis and O’Connor from the postseason.
“This was a huge opportunity for us,” Reagan senior libero and captain Maddie Correa said. “We got to prove people wrong, those who didn’t think we were good enough to make it. I think our battle at the end was something that proved to people that we were able to come through.”
The Rattlers looked like they had more magic left after they erased two match points in the fourth set to keep their season alive.
However, Seven Lakes regrouped with a 5-2 start in the fifth. The Rattlers cut it to 6-5 on a Nyah Anderson kill, but a 5-2 run sent the Spartans on their way to securing a spot in the Class 6A state final set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Garland, where they will face Flower Mound or Klein.
The Spartans got comfortable after taking winning the first two sets. For good reason, too.
Seven Lakes’ senior Ally Batenhorst, one of the nation’s top recruits who is signed with Nebraska, had 18 of her 38 kills in the first two sets. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter was unstoppable, scoring
from all over the court.
“It was just about slowing her down at that point,” Correa said. “She’s a good player. She’s got the height, and she’s very athletic. We tried to stop her as best as we could.”
Batenhorst continued to dominate, but the Rattlers made adjustments and counterattacked by keeping the ball in play.
“We needed to start with doing a better job defensively,” Reagan coach Rachel Torvik said. “We started a little bit flat. I don’t think we were expecting the ball to come at us that quick, but once we started to have a little bit more grit and energy about ourselves and not fearing and going and being aggressive, we were able to settle down.”
The Rattlers got back in it with a late push in the third set. Anderson tallied two kills, and sophomore Chichi Ozigbo had two kills as part of a 6-2 run that sealed it.
It was another tight one on the fourth with 12 ties. Two Seven Lakes errors drew the Rattlers to 21-21; however, the Spartans stretched it to 24-22 on a kill by Emma Schroder.
Reagan answered with kills by Remi Vanderpool and Katie Hill to erase two match points and tie it at 24. Vanderpool added a kill for game point, and the Rattlers secured it with a Seven Lakes hitting error.
“The first two sets, we started off a little rocky, but we knew this could be our last game and we needed to make all effort we can put into this,” said Anderson, who is signed with Miami (Fla.). “Coming into the next two sets, we did our jobs. We had high energy and put in a lot of effort.”
The Rattlers fell behind early in the fifth with three errors that put Seven Lakes in the lead 5-2. Reagan pulled it to 7-6 but didn’t get closer. The Rattlers made a final run after falling behind 13-9. Anderson had three kills to make it 1412. However, just like she did the entire match, Batenhorst secured the Spartans’ second state championship game berth with a kill.
“I’m upset because this is the end of a chapter in our life,” said Correa, who is signed with Texas Tech. “I love this team so much, and we had a lot of good memories. I’m really proud with how far we got because only so many teams get this opportunity. I’m just happy that I was able to do it with my team and my best friends.”
Anderson finished with 22 kills. Ozigbo had 10 kills, and Julia Aleman had nine kills.