Four Dallas-area volleyball teams make Texas state tournament

Four Dallas-area volleyball teams qualified for the University Interscholastic League state tournament by winning regional titles over the weekend: Hebron (Carrollton) (5A), The Colony (4A), Pearce (Richardson) (4A) and Lovejoy (Lucas) (3A).

Lovejoy is seeking its third straight 3A title, but the last Dallas-area team to win a 5A volleyball title was Arlington Martin in 2005.

Hebron was the last area team to win a 4A title, winning in 2004 before it moved up to 5A. Tiffany Baker posted 20 kills and 10 blocks to help Hebron advance to the 5A tournament.

LOVEJOY SWEEPS 3A CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
Lovejoy, which is becoming one of 3A's most dominant programs, swept the boys and girls cross country titles over the weekend. Lovejoy's Katie Ruhala won the 3A girls individual title.

Craig Lutz of Marcus (Flower Mound) won the 5A boys title with a time of 14 minutes, 41.5 seconds on the five-kilometer course. Lutz beat the rest of the field by 36 seconds.

Rachel Johnson of Plano won the 5A girls cross country title with a time of 10:55.4 on the two-mile course.

BASKETBALL BEGINS THIS WEEK
Boys basketball teams tip off this week, and Lincoln (Dallas) will be one of the Dallas area's top teams, featuring Division I signees LeBryan Nash (Oklahoma State) and Keaton Miles (West Virginia). Lincoln hasn't won a state title since 2002, when its perfect season was anchored by future NBA star Chris Bosh. Lincoln coach Leonard Bishop told The Dallas Morning News that "I think we can compete with anybody in the country."

Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:mwixon@dallasnews.com">mwixon@dallasnews.com</a> or on Twitter @mattwixon.