CALEDONIA — Something extra was in the air on Tuesday night as Caledonia welcomed New Albany for a non-district match.
The two teams have exciting recent history between them as they faced off for a chance to play for a state championship last season in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A semifinals.
That match, held at New Albany, was an all-time classic, with Caledonia pulling out a five-set win en route to its first state title in program history.
Revenge was certainly on the Bulldogs’ mind as they commanded early, but the Cavaliers pulled things out at home, an impressive four-set win to get back on track, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19.
“When we played New Albany at their place, they didn’t bring the same team here tonight,” head coach Samantha Brooks said. “They brought a different team, a lot of hustle and scrappiness, so I think it caught us off-guard that first set. Then, we were able to get our bearings in that second set and we just pushed through.”
New Albany (6-4) carried momentum early, winning the first set and jumping out to a 13-7 lead in the second set.
A plethora of Caledonia (7-3-1) errors allowed the Bulldogs to take advantage, but like the Cavs’ recent four-set loss against New Hope, they righted the ship after a timeout in that second set, and stormed back.
“Coming in, we were amped up,” senior Mary Beth Edmondson said. “Knowing last year, it kept us encouraged, knowing that we had done it before.”
If Thursday’s loss against New Hope was any indication of where Caledonia was as a team, Tuesday night’s win was a showcase of how good they could be.
New Albany had chances to come back, but every time they put together a small run, the Cavs answered, and then some.
The nail in the coffin came in the final set, with Caledonia going up 13-6 early, forcing Bulldogs head coach Ashley Connolly to take a timeout.
A late New Albany run cut the deficit, but the Cavs served the match out, going on a late run to secure the win.
“We just played our game and minimized our errors more than we had in the first set,” Brooks said. “The win was huge and it’s a good foundation to continue to build on.”
Up next for Caledonia is another tough non-district home match as Amory comes to town.
Tuesday was the bounce-back win the program needed, and now, it’s up to the team to continue to build momentum.
“We just need to continue to pick each other up, lifting each other up, looking at things like missed balls to correct it for the future,” Edmondson said.
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