CALEDONIA — As soon as the final point dropped right in front of New Hope’s Daylyn Nettles, just over the net on the Trojans’ side of the court, Caledonia’s Tori Brooks grabbed a hold of Ella Clark and Camryn Johnson, the two closest teammates to her.
Brooks, who’d fooled the Trojans one final time, and her two teammates shared a brief moment of jubilation before the Caledonia bench joined the fray.
Brooks’ impromptu huddle turned out to be an apt commencement to Thursday’s match, mathematically speaking: Three players. Three sets. Three straight Caledonia triumphs over New Hope in as many annual Dig Pink Games.
Behind a loud, polarized crowd filled with fans of the two rivals, the ‘Feds took the home contest 3-0, a key win as both teams prepare for playoff matches next Thursday. Set scores were 25-22, 25-14, 25-22.
“Winning a normal game is fun and all, but when you win the Dig Pink Game in three against a team that’s pretty good, it’s just more fun,” Brooks said. “We’re rivals in football, baseball, softball, everything. When everybody’s going at it, it’s just fun.”
The senior outside hitter, one of the ‘Feds’ two captains, had the final two kills, including her clever soft hit that beat a diving Nettles to clinch the victory.
“Tori is an opportunistic player,” Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks said of her daughter. “She hits them out every once in a while when she’s swinging away, but she’s looking for the opportunity, and it’s effective.”
Brooks was integral in weathering New Hope rallies in the first and third sets and keeping the Trojans from taking a single set from the ‘Feds — something Caledonia was determined to ensure.
“We just had to dig down and focus because we wanted to beat them in three,” Tori Brooks said. “We just focused on the basics.”
In the first set in particular, New Hope erased a 17-10 deficit to tie the match at 20-20, but Caledonia clawed its way to a 23-22 lead and won the final two points to take the set.
“That was very important for us because that gave us the momentum to keep on keeping on,” coach Brooks said.
The momentum buoyed the ‘Feds to a rout in a second set featuring several impressive kills from middle hitter Megan Chandler and an uncharacteristic number of errors by the Trojans.
Caledonia once again got off to a stellar start in the third set, pulling away a bit to lead the match 17-12. New Hope brought it as close as 21-19 and 23-21, but the host team never lost control, putting the Trojans away in straight sets.
“To be able to take that win in three when we knew that it could have possibly gone five is exciting for us,” coach Brooks said.
With the rivalry aspect, the win was made even more fun for Tori Brooks, who plays softball with New Hope’s Kensley Woolbright. The Trojans’ Micaela Hudgins is a family friend of Brooks’ as well.
“They’re so close to us, but we never really get to play them,” she said. “We’re friends outside of volleyball, but in volleyball we’re really competitive.”
The ‘Feds and Trojans faced off twice during the season — once in a scrimmage and once at the Tupelo VolleyFest (Caledonia won the best-of-three match in three sets) before Thursday’s match.
Both teams will host playoff games on Oct. 17, with Caledonia hosting Corinth at 6 p.m. The ‘Feds saw a close match between Corinth and New Hope and recently traveled to New Albany to see their first-round playoff opponent in action.
“We should take Corinth,” Tori Brooks said. “We know how to play them now.”
Dig Pink Game offers chance to ‘give back’
Thursday was Caledonia’s turn to host the third annual Dig Pink Game supporting the research and treatment of Stage 4 breast cancer. The two schools traded off hosting the game the past two years.
For coach Brooks, the event serves as a reminder of how fortunate she and her players have been as well as the importance of raising the issue in the community.
“We’ve been given so much. We’ve been blessed. We have a great community. We have a great group of parents, a great staff,” Brooks said. “For us to have an event like this and give the girls an opportunity to give back is really important to us.”
Brooks said many of her players, including New Hope transfer Taylor Fletcher, have friends and relatives affected by cancer. A sign reading “Amber’s Army” honored Fletcher’s aunt, who Brooks said she believed was able to make it to the game to surprise her niece.
“We just want to win for a cause,” Tori Brooks said.
On Thursday, Caledonia was able to do just that.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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