PLANO – On a volleyball team with three 6-2 Division I recruits, Plano West junior Michelle Harris can be difficult to spot.

Unless you are coach Brittany Bridge. She says Harris, a 5-8 outside hitter, has been the team's unsung hero during its playoff run.

Plano West (34-8) makes its state tournament debut today in a Class 5A semifinal against Austin Westlake (41-1) in San Marcos.

"When you see a girl that is 5-foot-8 bang through a block and get a kill, you can't help but get excited for her," Bridge said. "It's good to have someone on the floor like that, because she has to work twice as hard to do what the others are doing."

The "others" are senior middle blocker Shannon Hawari, senior outside hitter Jordan Kirk and junior outside hitter Madie Jones. All are 6-2 and the main offensive options for Plano West.

Hawari (California) and Kirk (Connecticut) signed national letters of intent Wednesday. Jones is orally committed to LSU.

Then, there's Harris, who made the starting rotation as a libero at the beginning of the season. She had never played the position but was comfortable with it because she's solid on defense.

But when Bridge noticed her team was vulnerable on tips, she needed a front-line player with good defensive instincts to help get to those balls. Harris was that person. She was moved to outside hitter three matches into District 9-5A play, and defensive specialist Kayla Johnson moved to libero.

"The change was good," Harris said. "A lot of tips were picked up, and it got us a lot of points."

Harris picks her spots on offense. She plays all six rotations and is there mainly for defense and passing. Hawari leads the team with 455 kills, and Kirk is second with 378. Harris has 71. She understands her role.

"I'm not the go-to hitter, obviously," Harris said. "We have girls who can put the ball down on the first swing, and that's what we really need. [Bridge] thought I could get the balls up on tips and help run them to Shannon and Jordan to get the points."

Bridge said it can be difficult to sell that role to a player, particularly an outside hitter whose natural instincts are to try to put away the ball on every shot. Bridge said it's vital to keep Harris on the floor at all times.

"Michelle's competing on a team of 6-footers," Bridge said. "Her game is a game of making the right shots. It's not a powerhouse game. Michelle's defense is better than any big hitter that I could put in for her."

Harris is used to the underdog role. And this season, so is Plano West, which wasn't ranked among the nation's top 100 teams by prepvolleyball.com last week. Westlake was No. 2. The other 5A semifinalists, Amarillo (No. 3) and Houston Cy-Fair (No. 9), were in the top 10.

Plano West lost to Allen in last year's regional final and lost its 9-5A co-MVPs, Nikki Fowler and Kathleen Nash, to graduation. A state tournament run seemed out of the question.

Yet, Plano West stands just two victories away from a state title.

"No one thought we'd reach this point," Harris said. "Now that we've proven them wrong about that, we can prove them wrong about the underdog not coming out on top."

MICHELLE HARRIS

Age: 16

Class: Junior

Position: Outside hitter

Notable: Harris is a member of the Dallas Juniors Volleyball Club.

Favorite TV show: Grey's Anatomy

Favorite movie: The Notebook

Favorite team: Dallas Cowboys

PLANO WEST ROSTER

State 5A volleyball semifinal: Plano West (34-8) vs. Austin Westlake (41-1), 5 p.m. today, Texas State's Strahan Coliseum, San Marcos