CALEDONIA — Something had to give.
As the Lafayette and Caledonia high school volleyball teams headed to the fifth set of their Mississippi High School Activities Association Class I playoff match on Tuesday night, the teams were deadlocked at two sets apiece and had taken turns assuming control of the match. The Lady Confederates started strong, but the Lady Commodores fought back. Lafayette then appeared on the brink of victory, but Caledonia fought back.
The momentum went back and forth against in the fifth set. Unfortunately for Caledonia, two late breaks gave visiting Lafayette a thrilling 3-2 win. Set scores were 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 24-26, 16-14.
“No one can say we didn’t go out there and put our hearts completely into it,” Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks said. “We left it all out on that court, definitely proud of the effort. It’s all about momentum in this sport sometimes, and they had it at the end.”
With the loss, Caledonia’s season ends at 19-6, while Lafayette will move on to face Corinth.
The Lady Commodores advanced by rallying from an 8-3 deficit in the fifth set, Lafayette scored 11 of the next 14 points to turn a five-point deficit into a three-point lead. How it arrived at that point was unique.
With the final set tied at 11 and Caledonia serving, the Lady Confederates appeared to set up and deliver a kill from junior Haley McMurphey. McMurphey, who had 12 kills, appeared to drive the ball into the teeth of the defense for a point. But the ball hit junior Emily Robinson in the knee before deflecting off the elbow of unsuspecting junior outside hitter Shelby Buford. After glancing off the outside of Buford’s elbow, the ball fluttered harmlessly over the net and landed in the middle of a circle of Lady Confederates, who were celebrating McMurphey’s swing. Instead of a 12-11 lead for Caledonia, the lead belonged to Lafayette, and the Lady Commodores never trailed again.
“I think we might have won because we got lucky there at the end,” Lafayette coach Clint Jordan said. “But one thing about Lafayette girls, they are just so tough. They always are. We are so mentally and physically tough that even when we got down, our girls never stopped fighting.”
After Caledonia tied the final set at 14, Lafayette received back-to-back kills from sophomore Orianna Shaw and junior Kylie Glass to clinch the victory.
“Lafayette is so skilled and athletic, they just stay right there with you and make you beat them,” Brooks said. “They don’t make many mistakes. They make you earn every point. They are a very good team.”
Glass, who led Lafayette with 11 kills, had three in the final set.
Senior Kacy Lovett led Caledonia with 14 kills. She also had four of Caledonia’s 16 service aces. Freshman Bailie Cross had eight of Caledonia’s aces, including four straight in a fourth-set rally that forced the fifth frame.
“That was as exciting as it gets,” Jordan said. “I have the utmost respect for Samantha Brooks and this Caledonia program. I think the world of what she has accomplished here, what she does for her kids. When I got into coaching volleyball, I wanted to model our program after what she does. I think the world of that coach and that team.”
For Caledonia, junior Cassie Obman added four kills and sophomore Cheyenne Ruth had three. Senior setter Maegen Stewart led the Lady Confederates with 29 assists.
n In other volleyball action Tuesday night, Lewisburg eliminated New Hope 3-0 in the Class II playoffs. Set scores were 25-12, 25-6, 25-9.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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