Sacred Heart Wins D4 Title With Miraculous Rally

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It looked academic that Athens was going to be the Division 4 state champion in 2022.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Indians dominated Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart over the first two sets of Saturday's match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Irish had just a little life left, and that was all they needed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After losing 24-15, 25-13 in the opening two sets, the Irish would fight their way to win the next three sets by narrow margins of 25-23, 27-25, 15-11.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This is unbelievable. It is unbelievable. (The girls) showed so much grit and so much resiliency. (They) played out of their minds. I am so proud of my team,” SHA coach Krista Davis said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“That's the way a state championship match should be, it should be a fight to the end. It was back-and-forth and I don't think either team made a lot of mistakes. It was just who could pound it the hardest. It was a great championship match.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":248124,"width":298,"height":241,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/11/SHA-D4-VB-Final-11-1024x829.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-248124" width="298" height="241" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bridget Ruiz</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final was exactly that, as Athens dictated play in the opening two sets with their serving and timely blocking.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Irish then responded with a 19-12 advantage in the third, but Athens would manage to erase the lead and tie the score at 23-23. However, SHA put down the final two points and forced a fourth.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We started out super strong and collectively we were playing very well,” Athens coach Jacy Cole said. “In the third set (SHA) started getting the momentum and took that third set.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the fourth, Athens looked like it had bounced back, taking a 12-4 advantage before Sacred Heart found yet another life. Libero <strong>Bridget Ruiz </strong>really got into a groove in the back row and that allowed the Irish to get the ball to hitters <strong>Lillie Laney </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='173615' first='Angel' last='Brown']</strong>. Sacred Heart would fight off once match point at 25-24 before ultimately winning 27-25.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the fifth, the Irish scored the final six points of the match to secure their first state championship. Sacred Heart just kept the ball off the floor, as Athens made attack errors on five of those last six points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We made some communication errors and couldn't quite get our footing back under us,” Cole said. “In the fifth set, (SHA) was more offensive than we were and they were good defensively at the net.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>Sacred Heart Standouts</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior MH <strong>Lillie Laney</strong>: 19 kills (.436), 7 assisted blocks</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior OH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='173615' first='Angel' last='Brown']: </strong>10 kills, 16 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior L <strong>Bridget Ruiz: </strong>29 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior MH <strong>Leah Smith: </strong>8 kills</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore S <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='595955' first='Sophie' last='Hauck']: </strong>24 assists, 10 digs, 2 aces</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior S <strong>Eliza Pieratt: </strong>17 assists, 17 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>Athens Standouts</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior OH <strong>Kylie Quist: </strong>20 kills, 14 digs, 3 aces</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior OH <strong>Jocelyn Hall: </strong>18 kills, 24 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior MH <strong>Piper Porter: </strong>17 kills, 18 digs, 2 aces</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior MH <strong>Kamryn Paul: </strong>10 kills, 23 digs, 4 solo blocks</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior S <strong>Alaina Brubaker: </strong>56 assists, 19 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->