Lady Choctaws win the title

The Northview Lady Choctaw volleyball team poses with the TMSAA Class A State Championship banner and hardware following their two-set sweep of South Greene in the finals on Friday at Brentwood High School. The Lady Choctaws won all five of their games in the two-day tournament, winning 10 of 11 sets along the way, to finish 22-0.

Photo/Jason Peevyhouse

By JASON PEEVYHOUSE

Sports Editor

The Northview Lady Choctaw volleyball team made history on Friday afternoon at Brentwood High School as the Lady Choctaws battled through a tough first set in the TMSAA Class A Championship Game against West Greene before dominating the second set to sweep the Lady Buffaloes and claim the school’s first-ever state championship in a team sport.

“That moment and that feeling were so surreal,” Northview Head Coach Elysse Joy said of the final point of the Lady Choctaws’ season. “There’s no way to describe it as other than surreal.”

Joy agreed being able to celebrate at the end of a 22-0 season which saw the Lady Choctaws lose only three of the 47 sets they played made all the work since the preseason worthwhile.

“I told them right before we went into this game that ‘this is what you’ve worked for this entire time’,” Joy recalled. “(I told them) ‘there is not another team that deserves it more than you’.”

The Lady Buffaloes forced Northview to work for it in the first set as West Greene took an early 2-0 lead. But, behind the net play of eighth-grader Adalyn Harrison, The Lady Choctaws were able to answer as she recorded four kills to NMS take a 6-4 lead. Though the lead changed multiple times over the course of the title game, kills from Harrison tied the game on two occasions while a tip from teammate Lynlee Young knotted the score at 12-12. Moments later, a Young kill put Northview up by two. From there, the Lady Buffaloes only cut it to a lone point twice more over the rest of the set as Northview took the frame 25-21 after a Young kill rolled down the top of the net to land on the West Greene side for the final point.

West Greene took an early lead in the second set as well, jumping out 2-0 and 3-2. Then, Northview’s onslaught came. An ace from Kate Benedetto opened things up for Harrison and Young with kills while the latter had an ace as well to put the Lady Choctaws up 5-3. West Greene stayed close momentarily before a pair of Harrison kills opened a scoring run which also saw kills from Laney Gibbons and Young. A pair of Harrison aces later in the frame put the Lady Choctaws within sight of their ultimate goal at 18-7. From there, Northview outscored West Greene 7-2 as a late kill gave the Lady Choctaws a 25-9 win in the second set and seal the championship in orange and white.

“The second set showed they were determined, locked in, and ready,” Joy explained about the dominating finish to the match. “They knew that they were going to go come away with this championship. They proved it – they proved it to everybody.”

The win not only brings an end to an unbeaten season for the Lady Choctaws but it closes the middle school careers of the team’s eighth graders.

“I’m going to miss them,” Joy said choking back tears. “I can’t wait to cheer them on next year. I hope they win another state championship and I was so glad I have been able to coach them for three years.”

Northview also has plenty of seventh and sixth graders returning as well as fifth graders who will enter the program next year.

“They’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Joy added about the underclassmen.

With the final moments of the season moving further into past during the postgame interview, the Lady Choctaw coach talked about sharing this moment with her players.

“You dream about this since June,” Joy explained. “This is every coach’s dream. Then, to actually achieve it is insane.

“It’s crazy. There’s no better feeling.”

Joy said she hoped her players enjoyed this experience.

“I hope that they loved this experience,” she explained. “I hope that they want to come back next year.

“My seventh and sixth graders and incoming fifth graders, I hope that they look and they know that we are a state championship team and they want to come back.”

Northview 2, South Lawrence 1 (21-25, 25-16, 15-13)

After sweeping through the three pool play games on Thursday without losing a set, Northview found itself in unfamiliar territory as they trailed after the first set against South Lawrence. But, the Lady Choctaws rallied to take the second set before punching their ticket to the title game with a two-point win in the third.

Northview fell behind by three early but clawed its way back into it thanks to kills from Harrison and Benedetto. But, the Mustangs were able to stay just ahead of the Lady Choctaw pace and take the first semifinal set 25-21.

The Lady Choctaws did what they had done every time they had both times they had lost a set this season – answered. Kills from Harrison as well as strong defensive plays from Gibbons, Joey McDowell, Benedetto, and others helped keep Northview within striking distance. A Harrison ace tied the game at 12-12 while Young added a kill and three aces to help the Lady Choctaws take a 25-16 win in the second set and force a deciding third set.

Northview jumped out to a lead and extended it to 12-8 late in the deciding frame before the Lady Stallions rallied to tie the game at 13-13. But, Northview’s defense made sure that was the final point of the match for South Lawrence as the Lady Choctaws capped the set and the match with back-to-back points to seal the 15-13 win and advance to the title game.