STARKVILLE — The noise inside the Newell-Grissom Building on the campus of Mississippi State University was deafening as Caledonia volleyball stood just one point away from a state title on Thursday afternoon.
Aside from a tough start to the first set, the Cavaliers cruised their way into a comfortable Set 2 win and a comfortable lead in Set 3, up as much as nine points over Pass Christian.
As the Cavs got the ball on their side of the court, Mary Beth Edmondson rose up for what Caledonia hoped was the final kill.
The kill attempt tipped off the fingers of a Pirates player and fell out of bounds, the point, set and match awarded to Caledonia, the newest MHSAA Class 4A state champions.
Set scores were 25-20, 25-15 and 25-18 as the Cavs won their first-ever volleyball state title.
“I’m very proud,” Caledonia head coach Samantha Brooks said. “I’m proud of their mental toughness. It’s hard playing in an environment like this, but they pushed through.”
Set 1 of this state title game felt like both teams were trying to feel everything out — the crowd, the court, the opponent — and it showed in the play.
However, Pass Christian took advantage of some early Caledonia mistakes, taking a commanding 8-3 lead off the jump.
Caledonia didn’t waver under pressure and under such a big deficit early, cutting the lead down to 14-13 after a 10-6 run.
From there, the Cavs found their footing and went, finishing the set on a 10-5 run to take an all-important 1-0 match lead.
“Going into five sets with New Albany really prepared us for this game,” outside hitter Brianna Holliman said. “We knew we could do it. We knew this was going to be the type of game that was going to happen, and we were ready for it.”
The momentum from winning that first set was palpable, and with such a large contingent of Caledonia fans, especially students, out in full force, they didn’t let the momentum swing back to the Pirates.
That showed in the final two sets of the match, as while Caledonia was up just 10-9 at one point, the Cavs started getting their offense going, rattling off kill after kill that Pass Christian just couldn’t handle.
Libero Emma McKee had another fantastic service game, proving in many respects to be the catalyst for Caledonia’s success toward the end of the match.
“Switching up my serve really kept them on their toes and made them work for it,” McKee said. “It gets them all mixed up so they never really know what to expect and they can’t really adjust to it.”
While Pass Christian was unable to adjust, Caledonia was the exact opposite, maturing well into the match, with players like Edmondson and Holliman having great offensive games.
Set 3 was an even more exaggerated example of that success from the Cavs, who rode an 8-1 run behind who else but McKee to take a commanding 17-9 lead in the set.
They had luck on their side, too, somehow saving a point off a kill attempt from Pirates outside hitter Daydria Cuevas and turning into another point of their own on the second point after that 8-1 run.
The state championship was nearly theirs, but the Cavs just needed to finish the set and match off. Once Edmondson recorded that final kill, the entire team dogpiled at center court.
“Wow,” McKee said. “I was so happy. I just ran into the dogpile … We are so close as a team. We have such great team chemistry. We’re all friends outside of volleyball, and we always had that really good bond and played well together.”
Caledonia was battle tested throughout the playoffs, most recently in the semifinals, where New Albany took the Cavs to five sets.
They persevered, and on Thursday, they stood alone at the top, hoisting a state championship trophy.
When the Cavs received their medals and held up the trophy, the celebration was on and is definitely going to go on through the weekend and rest of the school year, a well-deserved cherry on top of a fantastic season.
“We brought a lot of people,” Brooks said. “We had a lot of community support. We love our community, and obviously, they love us. We made history today, and that’s huge for our school.”
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