STARKVILLE — April Reese was more than happy to provide the exclamation point.

Clinging to a 13-12 lead in the second set, the Starkville High School volleyball team was locked in a long rally with Clinton on Tuesday in its Mississippi High School Activities Association Class III first-round playoff match.

Clinton had rallied to close within one point when the teams put together a 16-play rally. But Reese, a junior middle blocker, sensed the timing was right to deliver a statement, so she slammed a kill down with authority that caused the Starkville High students in attendance to erupt with a cavalcade of clanging cowbells.

Reese’s kill helped Starkville score 10 of the next 12 points and sent it on its way to a 3-0 victory. Set scores were 25-20, 25-16, 25-8.

“We hustled and, more importantly, everybody on the team had the energy and passion to play to win,” Starkville senior outside hitter Khris Carr said. “We want to continue to the championship. We showed the type of energy and passion you have to have to play hard.”

Starkville (21-10) will travel to Region 2 winner Northwest Rankin (23-3) for a second-round playoff match Saturday. Four wins are necessary to capture the state championship.

Starkville won a playoff match for the first time in Lauren Love’s six seasons as coach. The victory was sweet considering Starkville missed the playoffs last season.

“This was real exciting because we felt like something was missing last year,” Love said. “Getting back into the playoffs was our primary goal. Then to go out and get the first postseason victory on top of that makes it that much more exciting.”

Reese is the longest-tenured member of the team. She said achieving postseason success felt too good to be true.

“We are really happy to get this win for her (Love),” Reese said. “I have been on the team since seventh grade, so this has been a long time coming. We felt like we had a team that could play for the North State championship, so we really have worked hard and set some high goals.”

Starkville built a 10-1 lead in the opening set. The Lady Arrows rallied but never take the lead. Thanks to a couple of service aces from senior Courtney Wilson, Starkville snapped an 18-18 tie and eased to victory in the first set.

“In the beginning, we really started out strong,” Reese said. “After they caught back up with us, I was a little worried because we had been in that position before. We really did a great job of finishing in the second set.”

Love always praised her team’s finishing. The front line play of Carr, Reese, and junior Emily Woomer proved huge as the Lady Jackets pulled away from a nip-and-tuck affair in the second set.

“We were able to step up and finish,” Love said. “I thought we moved our feet a lot better in the last two sets and that led to better offense. We were able to capitalize on some rotations. We made more hustle plays. The crowd was great, and we had some digs and dives getting everybody involved.”

Carr took over the match in the third set. She had six kills to help Starkville build a 14-4 lead. Clinton (26-12) appeared dazed from the flurry of points to end the second set.

“(The front line) was key,” Carr said. “April did a wonderful job. Emily did, too. We stayed aggressive and never backed down. Those kills pumped everybody up. Once we got a couple of points, the momentum stayed up for us and down for them.”

Carr had 23 digs and 18 kills. Reese added 20 digs, 11 kills, and an ace. Senior Vicky Vo had 24 assists, eight digs, and an ace. Wilson had 23 digs, four aces, and a kill. Senior Anna Shaw had 14 digs. Junior Abigail Wise had four blocks. Woomer had three aces, three blocks, and two digs.

“We played as a team,” Reese said. “We had the best communication we have had all year, and that was the main reason why we won. Now we have to be ready for Saturday and we will have to play even better. We are excited, though. We are glad to have the opportunity.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.