FORNEY — Robert E. Lee gave Garland Sachse everything it wanted and more.

It just wasn’t enough to pull off a playoff upset.

Sachse defeated Lee 3-0 on Monday in their Class 5A Region II bi-district playoff match at Forney High School.

Sachse (30-13) won 25-16, 25-19 and 25-21 to advance into the area round against either Plano or Richardson Lake Highlands.

Lee completes its season with a 25-15 record.

Senior Rebekah Bowden finished with nine kills and seven blocks in her final high school appearance. Junior Claire Himes had seven kills with Caroline Lynch totaling four kills.

Junior libero Taylor Winchester finished with 19 digs while Jamesha Hutton totaled 11 digs. Setters Nicole Trpkosh and Genesis Borens finished with 15 and 12 assists, respectively. Both players also added an ace to the Lady Raiders cause.

“We missed some serves and made a couple mistakes here and there, but this was probably the best match we’ve played this season and I am proud of the way they played,” said REL coach Melissa Lee. “They never gave up. (In other matches this season) we’d lose that first game and just quit, but tonight, I am proud of the way they fought. They did all they could do.”

Sachse sophomore Erin Richburg paced the Lady Mustangs with 15 kills and one solo block. Sachse senior middle Ebony Carter did her damage mainly on slide sets to finish with 12 kills. Carter also had two solo blocks with Sachse sophomore setter Casey Enna finishing with 44 assists.

The Lady Raiders and Lady Mustangs battled through a seesaw Game 1 with a kill from Himes tying the score at 11-11.

Sachse proceeded to win 14 of the next 19 points, led by kills from Carter, Richburg and Meaghan Jones. Jones clinched the game with a solo block.

“We made a couple mistakes and we gave them the momentum,” Coach Lee said of the Sachse surge. “But I think they did a great job coming back the next two games and playing with them.”

The Lady Raiders used kills from Bowden, Himes and DaJah Thompson to pull within a point, 10-9, in Game 2.

But just like Sachse did in the first game, the Lady Mustangs used a run to push out and pull away from the Lady Raiders. REL trailed 20-12, but continued to battle with a kill from Jamie Mills and block by Bowden to making the score 20-15.

The Lady Raiders couldn’t draw any closer with a kill by Carter ending the game to give Sachse a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third and final game was the most competitive with five lead changes before Sachse used a 4-0 run to break open a 13-13 score and lead 17-13. The Lady Raiders pulled a point back on a kill by Bowden, but missed serves stymied REL’s comeback.

A kill by Sachse’s Devin Ingram gave the Lady Mustangs match point at 24-18.

Undaunted, Lee battled to win the next three points after long rallies with a kill by Mills and block by Bowden making the score 24-21.

But a hitting error on the next point ended the match.

The Lady Raiders lose seniors Bowden, Mallori Dike, Thompson and Trpkosh, but return nine players, including both setters and two defensive specialists.

“Last year we lost nine (seniors) so many of these kids have had no playoff experience at all,” Lee said. “I think that will help next year because they will know what it’s like to be here.”