Walnut punches ticket to state championship with five set win over Mantachie for North Half title

The Lady Wildcats are on the road again. I doubt they mind, as there is a state championship ring waiting in Clinton if they keep up their stellar play as of late.

Walnut continues to play their best volleyball of the season as they made it past district foe Mantachie on Tuesday 3-2 in their third road game of the playoffs. The Lady Mustangs were the district champions in 1-2A despite Walnut winning the final game of the season between the two.

Watching Mantachie celebrate that district title on their home court made the Lady Wildcats that much more determined to get revenge and claim the North Half title there.

“We go out every game to win and we knew we could win there after beating them at home. I am glad our fans will get one more chance to watch us after Walnut only got around 75 vouchers to see the north half game,” senior standout Claire Leak said after her team’s big win.

Walnut took the North Half crown by scores of 25-13, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-8.

After jumping on the Lady Mustangs early in the first set and getting several plays at the net, Walnut watched as Mantachie took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Volleycats showed their will to win taking the next two sets, tying the match in the fourth set and closing the contest out on a Dilanie Lafoy kill to send Walnut to play for the first state title in Tippah County history.

Walnut is set to take on Puckett at 12 pm on Saturday at Clinton High School. See more photos from Tuesday’s win here.