From Temple Daily Telegram
By Tim Waits
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The opportunity to reach the third round of the postseason for the first time in school history was far too inviting to pass up for the Lake Belton Lady Broncos.

And so they did in convincing fashion.

Lake Belton swept Dallas White 25-13, 25-9, 25-12 in a Class 5A Division I area-round playoff match Friday to advance to a Region II semifinal against Melissa or Frisco Reedy next week.

“We’ve never been this far before and I’m so proud to get to this next round,” said setter Madi Bingham, who led the Lady Broncos with 35 assists. “We know we will play a higher level team and we just need to stay in our game.”

Lake’s game Friday consisted of spreading around the offensive wealth and getting more hitters involved on a regular basis.

“Madi did a great job of switching the ball around and setting our right sides and middles,” Lake Belton head coach Allison Waits said. “We did a good job of creating a lot of energy and not getting stale.”

One of the biggest benefactors of the ball movement was junior right-side hitter Morgan Kukulski, who put down 10 kills in the Lady Broncos’ offensive onslaught.

“We wanted to get it to our taller girls, and I was super vocal to the setters that I wanted the ball,” Kukulski said.

Power-hitting Kaitlyn Hutchins had her typically strong offensive night with 14 kills. So did senior teammate Gabby Jones, who added nine kills and nine digs.

Those players set the pace in the opening set as the Lady Broncos (34-11) rolled out to a 13-2 lead. Hutchins, MyKenna Johnston, Ava Wood and Kukulski all got in on the action as Lake pulled away early.

The teams traded points for a time, and the Lady Longhorns — who recorded their first playoff victory in school history earlier this week — got within 20-10 before Lake ended the set. Jones and Hutchins accounted for the final three points.

Lake Belton was even more dominant in the middle set as Jones established herself with a string of kills and blocks to help the Lady Broncos build a 15-5 advantage.

During one stretch of seven straight points, Bingham provided an ace, Hutchins had a tip that scored and Kukulski put down two kills to put Lake up 22-7. Johnston put down one of her team-leading four blocks to help close it out for a 2-0 match lead.

The Lady Broncos stayed sharp in the third, getting out to an 8-1 lead. Aces from Bingham and Hutchins plus Johnston’s smash of an overpass were the catalysts of that run.

Lake Belton ran off the final six points of the match as Johnston put down a Bingham set followed by a block from Wood, back-to-back kills from Jones and ultimately the finishing point by Wood.

“We’ve been working a lot on creating more options,” said Wood, a sophomore middle hitter. “I always want to be an option.

“We know the next one will be a bigger competitor. We’re just remembering everything we need to do and stay as sharp as we can every point.”