Brookhaven Overcomes Richland in District Semifinals
MESQUITE, Texas – Dallas College Brookhaven came back to beat Dallas College Richland in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District semifinals Friday, winning 23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-14.
Eighth-ranked Brookhaven (15-11) advances to Saturday's 12 p.m. championship against host Dallas College Eastfield (26-1). It is Brookhaven's first appearance in the championship since winning it in 2022.
Coverage begins just before noon on the DAC Sports Network.
The Bears hit .190 on a night they had to overcome a pesky Thunderducks team that reached the semifinals for the fourth straight year.
Mary Amick had 17 kills, 12 digs and two aces, while hitting .268 for the Bears. McKenzie Mitchell had 14 kills, 16 digs and three aces. Holland Hickman had 13 kills and three blocks, and hit a team-best .357.
In the first set, Amick's back row kill gave Brookhaven a 19-17 lead. Ryleigh Martin tied it for Richland with a kill two serves later. Hickman slammed one to the floor to put the Bears up two, but Martin's kill tied it at 21-21. Myra Memon ripped off an ace two points later to give the Thunderducks a 23-21 lead. Carmen Brown and Hickman's block cut the gap to one, but Martin's putaway ended the set for Richland.
Amick had two straight kills midway through the second set to give Brookhaven a 15-12 lead. Aliyah Bowman's block tied the set for Richland at 17-17. Hickman blasted one down from the middle to put the Bears up 21-18. Bowman's kill off the block cut it to one. Brookhaven bumped the lead back to three before an error two serves later pulled the Thunderducks within 23-22. McKenzie Mitchell's kill made it 24-22, but Lainey Teel pulled Richland back to a 24-24 tie. Kamryn Mitchell's kill gave Brookhaven a 26-25 lead, and the Bears evened the match at a set on the following point.
Brookhaven led by as many as seven in the third set, but a pair of aces by Memon pulled Richland back within three. McKenzie Mitchell and Holland Hickman's block padded the Bears' lead to 19-15. Mia Morrow and Aubrey Villa had a block for Richland to trim it back to two. Brown's kill made it 20-17. Villa's kill brought Richland back to within 21-20. Hickman and McKenzie Mitchell's back-to-back kills left Brookhaven with a 24-21 lead before Teel put away a ball. McKenzie Mitchell ended the set with a kill.
In Set 4, McKenzie Mitchell had three aces during a 6-0 run that staked the Bears to a 10-4 lead. After Brown and Kamryn Mitchell's block put Brookhaven ahead by seven, Richland used a 4-1 run, punctuated by Villa's kill to pull within 12-8. Hickman's kill off the slide gave the Bears their largest lead of the match at 16-8 before they stretched it to 20-9 on a cross-court kill by McKenzie Mitchell and Amick's ace. Brown pushed down a winner for a 22-10 lead. Brown and Kamryn Mitchell's block ended it to send the Bears on.
Brown had six kills and three blocks. Brooke Tyler had 51 assists and 12 digs. It was the sixth time this season she's had 50 or more assists. Fiona Larsen had 17 digs. Kamryn Mitchell had six kills and four aces.
It marked Brookhaven's third win over Richland this season.