7th/8th grade volleyball team wins the championship

The 7th/8th grade girls win the first volleyball championship for St. Mary's Athletics.

***Highlights Below***

It was a year ago when Cynthia and Isabella played in the 8th grade volleyball championship. They were a point away from winning it all when their team fell apart and the two ended up settling for second place.

But in their 8th grade year, they were determined that they would go out on top, and they did.

In their final game in a St. Mary's volleyball uniform, the two longest tenured 8th graders on the team played at their best and led the 7th/8th grade girls volleyball team to the school's first volleyball title in nearly a decade, a straight set 25-23, 25-15 victory over St. Brigid.

It was very fitting Isabella had the ball in her hands on championship point when she served one of her signature liners over the net that the other team could not handle, and the celebration began.

After forcing a side-out to start the second set, Isabella stepped up and served six straight balls over the net, and gave the 7th/8th graders a 7-0 lead. The lefty who had the game of her life was on a roll, mixing up her serves that barely sailed over the net, and then some lofty pop-ups into the back row.

The other team was clearly rattled and could never recover from that early deficit.

St. Brigid made a mini run and cut the lead to 19-13, but that's as close as they got.

Up 23-15, Cynthia placed a perfect ball into the back corner which hit the floor setting up championship point. Then Isabella's serve that hit off a St. Brigid hand sealed the title.

The core of this team played together in 4th/5th and 5th/6th grade and came out with only three wins in two years of play. Now, they are CYO volleyball champions.

In their regular season meetings. the two teams split, with St. Brigid winning the first game in straight sets, and St. Mary's winning the second game in three sets.

Both teams came ready to play and traded rallies and points for much of set one. The 7th/8th graders made some really nice volleys and bumps but St. Brigid, on more than a handful of occasions got to some balls that many thought they would have no chance of getting.

St. Mary's pulled away slowly in the first set and had a 20-15 lead before St. Brigid called a timeout. Then St. Brigid rallied off five straight points, tying the game at 20-20.

The 7th/8th graders scored four of the next five points and held a 24-21 lead, until St. Brigid scored two straight to make it 24-23.

On serve-receive, the other team bumped back an Edwena spike, which Isabella then bumped back over the net. St. Brigid hit it out of bounds and the first set belonged to St. Mary's.

Edwena was at her best and her volleyball instincts really showed in the second set. She was able to see the court well on several of her plays at the net, and was able to either set or spike the ball toward areas on the St. Brigid side that were left unoccupied.

Two of her signature plays of the game came in the second set, one on which she came out of nowhere to tap the ball over the net for a point. And then when she recognized that the other team had nobody by the net, she tipped the ball short for another point.

There were a lot of individual accolades, even though this victory was a total team effort.

Sisters Jamie and Tiffany who were playing volleyball for the first time this year contributed like they had been playing with the team all along.

Jamie's serves were so difficult to return and her quickness helped her get to a lot of balls that would've otherwise hit the floor.

Her older sister Tiffany, who is in 8th grade, was so consistent with her majestic serves which usually landed in the back row. Her serves caused havoc for the other team and pushed the girls out in front a little bit in the first set.

After not playing last year, Ivy returned and was one of the most improved girls on the team. Friday night she angled a lot of the third hits from tough spots on the court over the net and was also incredibly consistent on her serves.

Fiona and Victoria, both who have been playing since 4th grade, were near perfect when called upon. Victoria got to some really tough balls throughout the night and Fiona's spikes and overhand serves got the girls several key points.

And finally the glue that held everything together, Cynthia, who undoubtedly was the leader of this championship team.

It was Cynthia who really took her game to another level mid-season, and really made it a point to be the vocal one on the court. Everybody else on the team then followed her lead and it was so crucial in this magical season.

A lot of the little nuances of the game that Cynthia does so well, like keeping her arms straight on tough spikes, or putting the ball in the best spot for her teammates, are just as important as the big spikes and hard serves. The St. Mary's representative in the CYO Achievement Game played a near flawless game.

In the end, a team of five 7th graders in an 8th grade division went the distance and made St. Mary's Athletics history, on a night that will never be forgotten.

Isabella summed it up after the game in a matter of a few words.

"We ended it really nicely."