Maryvale Prep rode a balanced hitting attack and strong defense and serving to a four-set victory over St. Paul’s on Sunday to win their fourth straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship.
The No. 9 Lions, seeded second, dropped the first set but rolled to a 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-21 victory over the fifth-seeded Gators. Their offensive attack was led by hitters Sophie Harari (17 kills), Jessica Gogol (13 kills) and Abbi Tranchini (10 kills), who also had a match-high five aces, while setters Miley Snodgrass and Emily Kuczynski combined for 42 assists.
Tranchini (20 digs), Harari (18) and Gogol (16) led the defense along with Dylan Steele (three blocks).
After St. Paul’s won the first set behind the strong attacking play from leading hitter Jasmine Tucker, the second set was tied at 18 when Tranchini toed the service line. She proceeded to serve the next five points, a run that included two aces and two kills by Gogol for a 24-18 lead. After a side out, Maryvale ended the set after a Gators violation.
Losing the first set was a wake-up call for coach Missy Little, who had a message for her girls.
“I told them, ‘You are playing scared. You are just not playing your game. You need to quicken up the tempo, you need to play your game and that’s where we play best,’” she said. “We play a much quicker offense when we pick up the defense. I say defense wins championships and I believe that.”
Tranchini also believed in her team’s chemistry.
“I think it just reminded us of how we come together and play as a team, and that’s exactly what we did,” she said. “We know what it means to play in that close space where everybody is just working together effortlessly and that’s what we unlocked in that second set and we turned it on.”
Tranchini also unlocked the key to her serving success.
“I had actually been struggling with my serve for a couple practices before but just taking that deep breath,” she said. “Deep breath before every serve, it’s such a relief. It’s so exciting.”
Winning the first set was almost as surprising for the Gators (9-8) as getting to the final. They defeated No. 8 Mount de Sales, the top seed, in the semifinals and that carried over to the first set on Sunday.
“We just played our game,” St. Paul’s coach Kellee Furno said. “We just executed. Our serve receive was very good, our defense was very good, blocks were on it was just an all-around well put together game.”
Senior Grace Anne Sandstrom and juniors Soledad McAveney and Baran Christianna are the only upperclassmen on the roster. Furno said experience was a factor.
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“[Maryvale] being here four times, they have the edge on being familiar in those pressure situations and we are young. We are sophomores and freshmen,” she said.
The Lions carried the momentum into the third set and pulled away with strong middle play.
Leading 7-6, Maryvale got a block and tip for a kill by freshman middle Steele and a kill by Harari, followed by a pair of aces by Gogol for a 12-6 lead. The Gators never got closer and the Lions won the set, 25-16.
Senior setter Kuczynski (17 assists), who has won four conference crowns, believes the rally after losing the first set started with a positive attitude that has been instilled in the team.
“Since freshman year, we’ve always had our positive affirmation, I’m beautiful, I’m smart, I’m kind, I’m loyal and I am a competitive volleyball player and I am a champion,” Kuczynski said. “Speaking about those words over and over when you are in that pit, it gets you through everything, believing in your teammates, believing in your coach, believing in yourself that you can pull out of a ditch is one of the most remarkable things that keeps you going throughout the whole time.”
“Our whole mantra is about believing in one another and believing in what they do. Before every match, we always talk about that they are confident and that they are fiercely competitive volleyball players and that they are champions,” Little said. “When you affirm yourself time and time again, you believe in yourself and your abilities.”
St. Paul’s also believed in its abilities and didn’t go quietly in the fourth set, despite trailing 13-5 early. They rallied to within 13-10 after a series of errors by the Lions, but a kill by Gogol stemmed the tide. A pair of aces by Tranchini got the momentum back and stretched the lead to 16-10, and a kill by Kyczynski extended it to 19-12.
The feisty Gators had one last charge that included kills by Laney Schollaert and Tucker and two kills by Sandstrom that pulled them within three, but the Lions cooled the rally and ended it on a kill by senior Gogol.
“[Gogol] played killer defense in the back row and she was getting her hits down in the back row,” Little said.
She wasn’t the only one.
“The most beautiful thing I think about this team is it’s not one position, it’s every position is playable,” Little said. “I have such good hitters even in the back row that I have two hitters always in the back row as well as my hitters in the front and they hit just as well in the back row as they do in the front.”
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