One. That’s how many wins separate the WACO volleyball team from a program’s first state berth after the Warriors went on the road last night in a class 1A regional semifinal and upended Lisbon in five sets.

Early on it looked like the Warriors would cruise to victory by taking the first two sets by final tallies of 25-16 and 25-18. The Lions quickly made adjustments and handled the next two by scores of 25-17 and 25-21 to set up a decisive fifth set. With the score tied at 4-4 in the finale, the Warriors went on an 11-1 run to close it out for a 15-5 win and head coach Jay Coble says serving had a lot to do with it. “Lindsey Roth came up huge for us and she has been one of our most consistent servers all year. She can place the ball anywhere and she was the key to that run. Lisbon was then overpassing and only getting one look on swings which allowed our block to get set up. Lindsey did such a great job in that key situation.”

Morgan Graber had a big night with a game-high 19 kills and she also managed five blocks defensively. Molly McLaughlin chipped in with eight kills and Grace Coble generated much of the offense with 32 assists. Aubri Garnsey racked up 32 digs and Ellah Kissell was a force with eight blocks. The team was successful on 93% of their serves with a pair of aces.

WACO improves to 26-7 and advances to face Burlington Notre Dame (16-5) tomorrow in a regional final at Mount Pleasant High School. The Nikes took down Holy Trinity in five sets last night.