It’s likely that the members of the Wylie High volleyball team never heard of the Ali vs. Frazier fights years ago. But on Tuesday, they participated in a heavyweight bout that went the distance.

The Bulldogs dropped the first two sets against Wichita Falls Memorial, then rallied for a 22-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13 victory that kept Wylie atop the District 2-5A standings.

Wylie trailed 10-8 in the final set before tying it with Kenley Collier’s service point. The Bulldogs moved ahead 13-11 but Memorial tied it before Kiki Bolden pounded a winner and Haddie Mock blocked the Mavs for the final point to end a game that took about 21/2 hours to decide.

Call it the Gem in the Gym, fight fans.

“Wow, just a battle. A battle of battles,” coach Shay Cox said. “I was proud of how they overcame (Memorial). A couple of times I had to tell them to keep their composure.”

The Bulldogs held it together.

“Even when we were down, they came back,” Cox said.

The hard-fought win puts Wylie at 4-0 in district and 28-7 on the season. Memorial slipped to 3-1 and 25-6 overall.

The game called to mind Wylie’s 2024 win in Wichita Falls, when the Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 but rallied to win. But it erased the memory of Memorial’s 3-0 victory at Wylie the spoiled senior night later in the season.

WHS would reverse that score in a playoff for first place.

New year, same story.

“We just had that grit to win against them again. I feel this team has the grit to win,” Bolden said. “It was amazing.”

WORTHY OPPONENT

Memorial lost key players from that team but returned strong outside hitters. It quickly was apparent Tuesday that the Mavericks have done a great job of rebuilding their team around those players.

“I don’t think we underestimated that team coming in but it seemed like they had an answer for everything we did in that first and second set. Solving those outsides was really tough,” Cox said. She told her players to focus on matching Memorial point for point, and to keep making adjustments.
“And we did, but it was a battle until the very end,” Cox said.

Wylie had a tough time with Eva Grisel - No. 5 to fans who watched her score at will at times from all points on the court. Landrie Love was the other outside threat. They had help, of course, but those two players were dominant in the first two sets..

Memorial led by as many as eight points in the first set before taking the win. The second set was closer but Memorial held the upper hand, leading by as many as four points, before Wylie closed fast. The Bulldogs tied the set at 22 and then led three times. A winner by Jenna Stricklin gave Wylie a 26-25 lead but the Mavs got three straight points from Grisel to win.

She accounted for 17 points in that game alone.

“We knew where it was going but we couldn’t shut it down,” Cox said. “She had just an excellent game.”

When the teams traded sides, some Wylie player heads were down. But downcast turned to fired-up as the Bulldogs roared to a 5-0 lead. The Mavs lit the fire by putting the opening serve into the net.

Cox said it’s hard to keep high intensity set to set, and Wylie took advantage of Memorial’s errors.

Wylie went up by as many as nine points, the last at 20-11, when Memorial called timeout to regroup. The Mavs made a push, cutting their deficit to three on two occasions.

But leading 23-20, Wylie got a point from Mock and a block by Avery LaCroix to win.

In the fourth set, Memorial took the lead after a 3-3 and held the upper hand until Wylie tied it at 17-all. Grisel put the Wichita Falls team ahead again but after Wylie tied it at 20, the Bulldogs played from ahead.

Up only 24-23 after a scoring point by Memorial’s Jayda Smith, Wylie secured the win on a power point by Bolden.

FIFTH AND FINAL

After all that drama, the game would come down to a fifth set.

It seemed to be Wylie against Grisel, who had five points against two misses in the short set. She even got her team a point with a serve.

The Bulldogs countered with a team effort, with Bolden, Mock, Collier, Stricklin LaCroix, Morgan Bearden, D’Nae Dolton and freshman Catelee Loudermilk contributing key points while Logan Hill kept the ball moving in her libero role.

Cox said Wylie had to key on the Mavs’ outside hitters defensively but was able to use its middle players to great advantage.

“Spreading the attack around, that’s what we’ve done all season,” she said.

Wylie had big points from different players all night but it seemed that Bolden’s were bigger. Certainly more emphatic.

Her spikes were jet-powered. Does she play mad?

“Yeah, I do,” she said, laughing. “We’re not mad at each other but we get heated, and I think that's what pumps us up.

“This just feels amazing, especially to beat them in five.”

Wylie will play each team in the district again, ending the season in Wichita Falls against Memorial.

Don’t expect to be home early from that one.