West Ashley Goes Distance To Capture Volleyball Crown
West Ashley 3, Dorman 2
STATE CHAMPIONS
BY BILL HENLEY, The Post and Courier
LEXINGTON - In between photo and interview requests, hugs and
congratulations, the thought hit West Ashley volleyball coach Christy
Jickling: 'We have a new role to learn.'
After three seasons of chasing down the elite teams, the West Ashley Wildcats abandoned the
underdog label on Saturday and took on the long-awaited mantle of Class AAAA state champions. To do
so, they had to unseat Dorman, winner of the past two titles, in five
sets, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 15-12, at White Knoll High School.
'Really, it's a giant leap in our maturity Wildcats capture elusive
volleyball crown as a team. At many points today, the game could have
gone either way,' Jickling said. 'They put it all together on the day
they needed to. It was a sign of elite athletes to do that. There's
something to be said for desire.'
Erin Kennedy led the team with 32 kills and added four blocks for
points and four service winners. Twin sister Jordan had 20 kills
and seven blocks, and junior setter Callie Vance racked up 52 assists.
Motivation and desire played a big part in West Ashley's success.
Jickling said she heard there was talk in the stands before the game
that the real state title was decided at the Upper State final when
Dorman (20-3) downed Hillcrest in five sets.
The Wildcats came out swinging in the first game, proving they wouldn't
be intimidated by a team that has won 10 championships since 1990.
Middle hitter Jordan Kennedy scored the first four points of the match
off of two kills and two blocks, and the Wildcats built a 12-5 lead.
She finished the game with 20 kills and seven blocks for points.
Dorman, however, went on a 12-3 run to lead 17-15 and neither team was
able to get more than a two-point lead for the rest of the game. West
Ashley couldn't convert a game point at 24-23, and Dorman was able to
close out the game at 26-24.
West Ashley's Catelyn Amende started the second game with an ace and
the Wildcats never trailed as they evened the match. The Wildcats
were down 13-8 in the third before rallying to a 25-23 win, and Dorman
won the fourth game, 25-15, as things went horribly awry at the end.
That set up a deciding fifth game that would be played to 15 while
Dorman had all the momentum. 'It was really hard,' Vance said.
'We knew we could do it because we had already done it twice. We knew
it was a short game, so we had to put it all on the line.'
Kennedy said it wasn't hard to find the energy to finish off the nearly
two-hour match. 'We had to Keep playing hard. We can't quit.
Coach Jickling won't let us quit,' she said. 'We were going off
adrenaline. We weren't going to give up.'
Erin Kennedy was the hero of the final game, helping West Ashley to a
5-1 lead with three kills and a block before finishing the match with a
kill and another block. 'It was a mental thing. We knew we could
pull through. We've played them before and knew what they could do,'
she said. 'Our passing was really sound and that's what we worked so
hard on in practice.
'We just wanted it more. They beat us three times. It wasn't going to
happen a fourth.'
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