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Xavier's 2018 volleyball state champions (Photos by Don Ketchum). |
They could
feel it in the air and in the vibration beneath their feet. It was something
they would not be able to stop.
The Blue and
White Wave.
Xavier
Prep’s Gators won their second straight 6A Conference volleyball championship
at Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday night (Nov. 7), scoring their
second straight 3-0 sweep after defeating Chandler Hamilton in the semifinals.
Junior Bri
McKnight unloaded a shot deep into Corona del Sol territory and it bounced off
an Aztec’s hands and over the back line for the final point, putting the stamp
on the victory – 25-21, 25-20 and 25-18.
Xavier
finished with a 33-9 record, Corona del Sol 29-14. The Gators also had swept
the Aztecs 3-0 in a match earlier in the year at Corona.
When
McKnight saw what she and her teammates had done, she cupped her hands over her
face as if she couldn’t believe it. Tears began to flow and not long after, the
Blue and White Wave of boisterous Xavier faithful spilled onto the floor.
McKnight, an
outside hitter, saved her best match of the season for last. She had 20 kills
and 13 digs. Senior setter Shannon Shields had the perfect touch on most of her
passes with 40 assists, as well as 12 digs. Senior libero Ashley Yeung was key
on the back row with 17 digs and sprawling on the floor to reach the ball on
several occasions. Junior middle blocker Jasmine Knight had 12 kills.
McKnight and
Knight are expected to return as seniors next year, and sophomore outside
hitter Serena Turner will be back. The Gators got a bonus from Turner in the
title match – she had been out of action for several weeks with an ankle
sprain, but worked feverishly to get back in time for the playoffs and
contributed a pair of kills along with one dig.
Asked about
her reaction to the win, McKnight said, “I realized that we just did it. I kind
of dropped to the floor. I am beyond happy.’’
Gators raise another title trophy. |
She was
ecstatic that she could help send Shields and Yeung, two of her best friends on
the team, out with a flourish.
Shields
exuded the confidence that carried her for most of her four years on the
varsity. She never seemed to get too high or too low, but all the while had
fun. She said she and the Gators were well aware that Corona was capable of
coming back from an 0-2 deficit as it did in a five-set semifinal shocker over
top-seeded Gilbert Perry.
“We said,
“We are not going to be Perry,’ ‘’ she said. “We did not want to let up.
“When we
beat (Phoenix) Pinnacle (in the quarterfinals), we knew we would make it to the
finals.’’
As McKnight
was happy for her, Shields was happy for McKnight.
“The way she
played was crucial for us,’’ Shields said.
During
timeouts and in between games, the Gators raised what looked like a shoebox
over their heads and touched it. Coach Lamar-Renee Bryant would not divulge its
contents, only to say it carried a number of things “special to us. It’s a
tradition.’’
After Xavier
closed out the first game with a 3-1 run in the final moments, Corona was in
control for much of Game 2. But Xavier hung tough, getting a kill from senior
Jennelle Yarwood to the back corner and a kill from McKnight from the middle of
the back row to win it.
In Game 3,
it was as if the big win over Perry and the 0-2 deficit had taken its toll on
the Aztecs, energy-wise. The closest they got was within 14-13 and the Gators
marched toward victory.
During
timeouts, Bryant said she would tell her players to play in five-point
increments, “and that made the game more manageable for us.’’
It was a
satisfying conclusion for Bryant and her players.
Playing in a
couple of high-profile mid-season tournaments (Durango in Las Vegas and the
Nike in the Phoenix area) took a lot of energy out of the Gators, and she said
it “took about a month’’ for them to return to normal.
Late in the
season, the team encountered “a few bumps,’’ according to Shields, namely
losses (two each) to Perry and Hamilton.
Bryant
admitted that her team had been struggling.
“Except for
the last two (Hamilton and Corona del Sol),’’ she said, smiling.
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