Athens volleyball drops epic 5-set battle to Sacred Heart in D4 state final

BATTLE CREEK — The magical season that saw Athens set new heights for its volleyball program came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday as the Indians traveled to Kellogg Arena to compete in the MHSAA Division 4 state finals.

Athens faced off with fourth-ranked Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Irish in an epic five-set slugfest, a matchup that saw Sacred Heart overcome a two-set deficit to battle back and secure the state championship, needing a fifth set to do so. Athens dropped the heartbreaker by scores of 25-14, 25-13, 23-25, 25-27 and 11-15.

“Obviously not the outcome what we wanted today,” said Athens coach Jacy Cole. “But in the end, we are here. We are state finalists and runners-up in the state. In the end, these girls did something that no one at Athens has ever done. I’m super proud of these girls, they have made history time and time again this year. Nothing to be ashamed about.”

Things looked good for the team in purple and black early, as Athens took control of the first set with the score tied at 5-5 with a 4–0 run, a run capped off by a Sarah Roe ace, giving the Indians a 9-5 lead and leading to a Sacred Heart timeout.

The break did little to slow down the potent Athens attack, which continued to show its diversity with an array of well-placed tips and booming kills. A block by setter Alaina Brubaker and Kami Parlin followed by another ace from Roe extended the Athens run to a full 6-0, giving the Indians an early 11-5 lead.

After Sacred Heart was able to break the run with a tip of their own at 12-6, the Indians embarked on another run, a run that saw all the little things going right for the purple and black. Sacred Heart, meanwhile, found itself in the proverbial quicksand as everything seemed to be going against them. Athens extended its lead to double digits a 17-7, forcing an Irish timeout.

Mt. Pleasant was able to gather themselves and embark on a small 3-0 run to close to within 18-10 at one point, but set one belonged to Athens as the Indians took a 25-14 win.

Set two saw the two teams battle in a true back and forth affair, with a 4-0 run giving Athens the early advantage at 8-4, leading to a Sacred Heart timeout.

Sacred Heart closed its way back to just two points for much of the first part of the set until another small run, this time a 4-0 spurt capped by a Kami Parlin block, gave Athens an 18-12 lead, leading to another Sacred Heart timeout.

The lead continued to grow for Athens out of the break as the Indians quickly opened up a double-digit lead at 22-12 after another 4-0 run, a run paced by another Parlin block. Athens went on to claim set two by the score of 25-13, taking a 2-0 lead.

That’s when Sacred Heart began to dig deep and stage its comeback with its backs firmly against the wall. The little things that had went right for Athens in the first two sets were suddenly going the way of the Irish. All the little tips that seemed to find the lines for Athens now just bounced inches out, serves that caught the net and rolled over for Athens early were heading into the net, and key digs that the Indians had been catching and keeping alive were now heading errantly out of bounds.

The third set was a back and forth affair until Sacred Heart turned a 9-9 tie quickly on its head with a 7-1 run, giving the Irish a 16-10 lead, leading to an Athens timeout. Sacred Heart managed to build a 19-12 lead before the Indians managed to mount their own comeback. A 6-0 run allowed Athens to rally back into the set, closing to 19-18, however a service error on the next attempt by Athens gave Sacred Heart momentum once again at 20-18. A little back and forth found the Irish holding a 23-20 advantage before a 3-0 spurt by the Indians tied up the set once again, this time at 23-23. Sacred Heart buckled down and retook control of the set with two straight points, going on to take the first set from Athens throughout the postseason by the score of 25-23.

Things just continued to go the way of the Irish early in set four until Athens appeared to get its feet back under them, as a Sacred Heart 2-0 lead early very quickly turned the way of the Indians, as an 12-2 run by Athens allowed the purple and black to build what appeared to be a commanding 12-4 advantage.

Sacred Heart was far from ready to throw in the towel, however, as it clawed its way right back into the game. Before the Irish were able to close the score however the Indians continued to look for a way to secure their state championship crown. Athens eventually extended their lead to 19-13, forcing the Irish to use their final timeout of the set. Sacred Heart took control of the set after the break, taking advantage of a few miscues from the Indians to reel in the score. Sacred Heart eventually closed the score 21-20 as it was Athens needing a timeout to regroup.

The break seemed to work for the Jacy Cole led Indians as Jocelyn Hall came out of the timeout with a tip, giving Athens the 22-20 lead. After the teams traded points and with Athens leading 23-21, a two point surge by the Irish tied up the set at 23-23. Mt. Pleasant went on to take the lead at 24-23, only to see Athens retie the score at 24-24. Athens actually had championship point at 25-24, but a 3-0 run by Mt. Pleasant put away the fourth set, giving the Irish a 27-25 win, tying it up 2-2 and forcing a fifth and final set.

Athens controlled things early in the fifth set, building an early 6-2 advantage, sending the Irish reeling into a timeout to regroup. Regroup they did, quickly closing to within 6-5 and setting up some very exciting back and forth play. The teams traded exciting point after exciting point, with Athens eventually taking a small 10-8 lead. Sacred Heart seemed to turn up the pressure a little after that, taking advantage of several Athens miscues to tie up the set at 11-11, leading to an Athens timeout.

A block from the Sacred Heart defense led to a quick Irish point, setting the tone for the next several minutes. Two blocks extended Sacred Heart’s lead to 13-11, and in a heartbeat, the Irish were facing championship point at 14-11. The Indians were able to handle the ensuing serve; however, a kill attempt from Athens went long, giving Mt. Pleasant the fifth set by a score of 15-11, completing the Irish comeback from two sets down to giving Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart the epic five-set victory and the D4 state title.

“We said it was going to be a battle, I mean we knew this might go to five sets, this shouldn’t be easy, this is the state finals,” said Cole. “Sacred Heart just did the right things at the right time tonight and they got the outcome. This is a game of errors and we made too many at crucial moments. Sacred Heart was very scrappy on defense and our offense should have evolved a little bit more in those crucial moments.”

Leading the way for Athens statistically was Kylie Quist, who had a team-high 20 kills to go with 14 digs, while Jocelyn Hall added 18 kills and a team-high 24 digs.

Piper Porter also had a huge championship matchup, recording 17 big kills and 18 digs. Also adding to the Athens effort was Kamryn Parlin with 10 kills and 23 digs, while Alaina Brubaker put together a tremendous day at the setter spot with 56 assists and 19 digs.

Athens finishes its 2022 season at 34-13-2 overall. The Indians will now say goodbye to a number of very successful seniors who set numerous records at Athens as the Indians advanced to the school’s first volleyball state championship game.

“Right now our team probably doesn’t feel like it, but this is one of the best feelings ever, just to get here,” said Hall. “We have done so much this year together, this is something we will remember for a very long time. All the memories and the history that we’ve made this year, with the support of the community right there behind us. They’re a huge part of this, we’re just thankful for everything.”

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Athens volleyball falls to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in D4 final