The Rams upstaged West Henderson in the 2A West finals, recovering after losing the first set 25-19 to win the next three, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-21.
The reward will be a chance for Starmount to go after its third state title in volleyball this weekend. The Rams, who captured trophies at the 1A level in 2003 and 2004, will face Cardinal Gibbons in the 2A finale on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum.
Gibbons beat West Henderson in the last two state championship matches. West Henderson was responsible for knocking Starmount out of the playoffs in last year's semifinals, so Tuesday proved sweet payback for the girls from Boonville.
"We circled this date 364 days ago," Starmount coach Jon Symons said. "We went up there last year and they beat us soundly. So, for us to come out and play with no fear tonight, and really try to serve tough and play defense and make good swings ... All of them played well. It was a team effort."
Starmount improved to 31-3 with the victory, breaking the school record for wins in a season. Early on, though, it looked like the Rams might end 2007 stuck on 30 victories.
With the score tied 17-17 in game one, West Henderson went on an 8-2 run to close out the set. Uncharacteristically, the Rams committed a rash of errors during this stretch, watching balls hit the floor untouched or committing net violations.
But players refused to get down after dropping the opening game, even though a similar situation unfolded last year in West Henderson's 3-0 win over Starmount.
"That was my speech to them between games," Symons said. "I told them, 'You can play with that team, you can beat that team. You just can't give away free points.'"
And the resilient Rams, who have made rallying a part of their MO in big matches this season, responded. Starmount began wearing West Henderson down, throwing up an array of front-row blockers against hitters Brittany Fennell (Clemson commitment), Erica Cantrell and Laura Ann Huskey.
The Rams stuffed or altered numerous shots, using various combinations with Meme Brown, Taylor Doss, Katie Jerome and Jordan Raye.
Doss finished with 12 blocks, while Brown had 11 and Jerome 9.
"I think we may have intimidated a couple of their middles, where they took a couple of swings, hit it into our block and then started tipping and rolling," Symons said. "When you get to this level, you can't do that. You've got to put something with some venom on it and they weren't able to do that."
Starmount's offense, meanwhile, got stronger and stronger as the match progressed. Jana Matthews pounded out a team-high 17 kills -- shots that hit the floor with no chance of being passed back up. Brown (11 kills) and Doss (10) also finished in double figures in attacks.
Raye, the team's setter, had seven kills, some actually being soft tips that fell into empty spaces behind the front-line blockers. Raye, who reached the 1,000 assist mark in Saturday's win at West Davidson, had 39 assists on Tuesday.
"Setting Jana, Meme, Katie and Taylor -- I have the most weapons you can have," said Raye, a junior who started training at the position in sixth grade. "I can set anybody and feel comfortable about it."
The Rams began asserting control in game two, never trailing after scoring four of the first five points. Starmount kept the Falcons 3-5 points away until West tied it up 20-20 and again 21-21.
This time, the Rams didn't flinch. Brown had an ace, and West Henderson hit a couple of shots out, helping Starmount take the game.
In game three, the Rams shot out to a 12-5 lead. West Henderson eventually trimmed its deficit to 15-14 but could get no closer. The Falcons hit their last three shots out.
Starmount managed to keep West at arm's length after turning a 7-5 deficit into a 12-10 lead in game four. The two teams traded points much of the rest of the way, with Starmount getting help from pivotal by Jerome, Doss and Brown. Jerome was a bit of a secret weapon, putting down a few winners with the West defense keying on other targets.
"I told Jordan, 'At some point they are going to forget about Katie. Find Katie for a couple of points and she is going to get a swing,'" Symons said. "Katie came through. She just pounded two of them."
The Falcons pulled within 22-21 on a tip point late in game four. But after a Starmount timeout, the home team never gave up another point. A wild celebration ensued after West Henderson's final hit fell out of play.
"Losing to them last year, it was definitely motivation," said Brown, who turned 17 on Tuesday. "Since the end of last year, all we wanted was to come back and have them here, and we got it. When we knew we got it, we weren't going to let them go home with a loss.
"It was the best present that any girl could ever ask for who plays sports."
West Henderson finished its season 24-2. The only other loss was to Cardinal Gibbons in an early season tournament.
"We didn't get our blocks where we needed to get them tonight because we're usually pretty tough with blocking," Falcons coach Jan Stanley said. "But that had a lot to do with Starmount. They are very athletic and a good team. I wish them the best this weekend."
Symons said he planned to give his girls today off from practice, then go hard on Thursday. A light workout will follow on Friday, followed by a long-anticipated bus trip to Raleigh on Saturday. That has been circled on the calendar since last year, too.
Symons was the coach of the Rams when they won both of their other state titles. Saturday's match up will be much tougher than the two that have come before. Cardinal Gibbons carries a national ranking and an overall record of 33-2-1. The Crusaders have three starters who stand between 6-3 and 6-5.
"They are Division 1 caliber players, and I'm not talking mid-Division I," Symons said. "I'm talking high D-1 -- Penn State, UCLA.
"It's going to be a monumental task but all we wanted was to have the ability to take on that task. And winning tonight allowed us to do that."
Starmount Rams (31-3) vs. Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders (30-2)
Saturday, Nov. 3 * 7:30 p.m.
NCSU's Reynolds Coliseum
Post a Comment
