It didn’t matter how big their deficit was or how many many sets they were down, the Trojans of New Hope’s volleyball team just wouldn’t stop celebrating. 

Even though New Hope dressed in black jerseys with bright pink numbers and letters for the annual Dig Pink game, the brightest color on Caledonia’s court was the flashes of white from the smiles of the Trojans anytime they found a way to score – which was not often through the first two sets. 

The Cavaliers had no issue in pulling ahead 2-0 and dominated the first set 25-17 before winning the second set 25-21, but any time New Hope notched a kill or gave great effort on a particular play, the team jumped together in a circle and celebrated loudly and proudly.  

It was that great enthusiasm and raw joy from playing volleyball that sparked New Hope’s 3-2 comeback victory Tuesday in Caledonia that ended with even louder and more excited cheers from the Trojans, who grabbed the Dig Pink trophy and thrust it into the air. 

Like her team all match, New Hope head coach Laura Lee Holman was all smiles after the game. 

“I think we’re at our best when we’re having fun,” she said. “So after that second set I was like, ‘Look, ya’ll are too tight. I don’t care what you do, go have fun.’”

New Hope rallied from a 7-3 deficit in the third set, cheering and celebrating along the way as it pulled ahead to a 13-9 lead – its largest of the match to that point. But the Cavs showcased poise in the moment and worked together to seize an 18-14 lead, which didn’t last long. The Trojans tacked on four straight scores to tie the game and a series of kills gave the team the advantage late to capture a 25-21 win.

The third set was highlighted by a dominant performance by New Hope, who tied the match with a 25-14 victory. After trading scores to begin the set, the Trojans broke an 8-8 tie scoring kill after kill to grab a 21-13 lead, making sure to savor every high moment. On the other side of the net, the Cavs couldn’t find any space to land a serve or kill as New Hope flew around the court, swarming to the ball like an NFL defense as it thwarted shot after shot. The roof nearly blew off the gym when a shot by Caledonia ricocheted off its side of the net and hit the hardwood to give New Hope its set-winning point, sending the Trojans’ students in attendance, mostly clad in pink shirts, some opting for ones with no sleeves, into a cheering frenzy.

“You can’t do that,” they screamed repeatedly.

There was ultimately no momentum left in the building for Caledonia to find, and despite trying, they couldn’t turn the tide against their rivals. The Cavs tied the game early at 3-3, but New Hope shrugged off any worries they might’ve had and quickly pulled away an 11-7 lead. A few more mistakes by the Cavs added to the Trojans’ total, and a kill attempt by Caledonia landed about an inch out of bounds to give New hope the decisive 15-7 victory. 

“I just felt like those first two sets we just played really tight, and once we started loosening up, I felt like we started reacting better to the ball,” Holman said. “We were anticipating a lot better, we made some adjustments defensively, which is something we’ve kind of struggled with this season. We’ve tried to make some adjustments or what not, but I think tonight they just did a really good job of playing with their hearts and relaxing and just following the gameplan. I couldn’t be more proud. They are such a fun group to coach.”

The victory for New Hope (11-22, 5-4) ended a streak of two straight Region 1-5A losses, mirrored the team’s victory over the Cavs last year, also a 3-2 comeback, and kept the Trojans in the No. 4 spot in the conference. All that’s left for New Hope in the regular season is tomorrow’s 6:30 p.m. game hosting West Point, which is last in the region. Holman said the team is likely going to take the No. 4 seed to the playoffs, but she’s not looking ahead.

“We still have (a game) to play,” she said. 

For Caledonia, it was a stinging defeat dealt by their rivals just before the end of the regular season, and it showcased some areas of concern to head coach Samantha Brooks, who had a lengthy talk with her team after the game in the locker room. 

“In the first two sets we really took advantage of their weaknesses on the court, and in the third set we did not and we stopped running an offense. Our defense kind of fell apart.” Brooks said. … “You hate to say ‘I think they got comfortable,’ but I think we did just kind of get settled in and got comfortable and stopped playing as aggressively as we should have. For New Hope, they picked up their game, they got scrappy and they were picking things up and it was just a combination of both.”  

Caledonia (18-12-2, 5-4) still holds down the No. 3 spot in the conference standing ahead of tomorrow’s regular-season finale, a 6 p.m. contest at Columbus, and is playoff bound, but that doesn’t make losing like that any easier. Brooks said the loss could spur a pace of growth they need heading into the postseason.

“It was hard. It was a hard, hard pill to swallow,” Brooks said. “But we’re going into the playoffs, and we are learning from it moving forward.”