Jessa Beach ended Thursday night with five blocks but it was the last one that was the most important as the final one delivered Chesnee it's first ever volleyball state championship as the Eagles defeated Andrew Jackson 3-0 to come away with the 2020 SC 2A state championship in front of a large group of supporters at Dutch Fork High School. "We're so excited and I'm so happy for the girls that they get to experience this and see that all their hard work has paid off," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "They've worked so hard every year that they've been here and just shown such dedication. They've wanted it so bad and I'm just glad they could get this win." "The emotions haven't set in yet as I'm still on this adrenaline high but I can feel it coming," said senior AC Yelton. "When I get on that bus I imagine it will turn a little different but it's still going to be an exhilarating feeling." Chesnee got the match started just the way it ended as Jessa Beach got the first point of the set on a block to put the Eagles ahead 1-0 and that lead stretched to 5-0 on a four point service run by Kaitlyn Barrett that included an ace serve and two kills by Yelton. Andrew Jackson was able to make the score 11-6 before Holly Hines went on a twelve point service run that put the score at 24-6 in a set the Eagles won 25-7. The service run by Hines came as no surprise to her head coach. "She's been uneasy with her serving but we knew she had that ability," said Jolley. "She found a way to score from that backline tonight and her setting was spot on." Hines said that she knew she had to take an aggressive approach to her serving and it paid off on Thursday night. "We were at practice and I knew to get points I was going to have to be an aggressive server," said Hines. "I knew it was my job to get points when I was serving to get the lead and Coach Jolley was telling me great spots to put the ball and I executed it." Hines didn't leave the strong serving behind in the first set as she started the second set with two ace serves on a five point service run to give the Eagles an early 5-0 lead. Andrew Jackson managed to get the score to 12-6 before a kill by Barrett was followed by a six point service run from Ali Scruggs that included two service aces and two more kills by Barrett to put the score at 19-6 on their way to a 25-12 set win. Barrett said that the support of her teammates helped her get off to a fast start at the net. "I knew I had my team to back me up so if I made a mistake they would help me out," said Barrett. "To get so many kills and the game started it was just a lot of fun." The third set started off with a kill by Barrett to give the Eagles a quick 1-0 lead but Andrew Jackson battled back to take a 7-4 lead as Chesnee trailed for the first time in the match. After the Eagles got the serve back AC Yelton went on a six point service run to reclaim the lead at 11-7 and Chesnee never looked back. Chesnee led 23-17 on a kill by Barrett and as Hines made the final two serves of the season the Eagles clinched the match with a block by Beach to secure the state championship. "We've worked for this all season and it shows that all our work has paid off," said Beach. "Even though we got discouraged during the quarantine it just shows we persevered through the struggles and I'm glad to end my senior year with a win." Holly Hines also reiterated how much it means to see all their hard work rewarded with a championship. "It's just unbelievable," said Hines. "I think we put so much hard work into this program building it up each and every year. I was so relieved that all the hard work we've put in has paid off." The frontline of the Eagles played another strong match as Kaitlyn Barrett had sixteen kills to go along with nine digs while AC Yelton finished with eleven kills, eleven digs, and three ace serves. They were joined by Jessa Beach who had six kills to go with her five blocks and Ali Scruggs who finished with four ace serves. "They were huge tonight," said Jolley. "I can't say enough about them because they make defense a lot easier because they stop the ball and put it down when it gets on our side." While the frontline played a great game they had the outstanding play of the backline players to thank for that as Holly Hines finished with thirty-three assists to go along with five aces and Shenandoah Bishop led the team with thirteen digs. "Shenandoah doesn't get much credit because you don't notice her but that's a good thing because a great libero goes unnoticed,” said Jolley. "She made great passes and serve receives starting from the very first one. She made a perfect pass and it just set the tone for our team." Yelton seconded the thoughts of her coach saying that without the backline players the frontline players wouldn't be able to do their jobs. "We have a really solid front row and from the bleachers it lots of times looks like what is controlling the game but our back row is always there," said Yelton. "Our hitters are good and solid but without our passers and setters we're nothing." For Chesnee the state championship will be the final high school match for five seniors as the Eagles will say goodbye to AC Yelton, Jessa Beach, Ali Scruggs, Shenandoah Bishop, and Karlee Swaney but as seniors they couldn't find a better way to end their high school volleyball careers. "It means the world to end it like this with this group of girls," said Beach. "I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else as this is the best group of girls I have ever played with." Yelton said that the closeness of this group really helped pave the way for this championship. "We're best friends," said Yelton. "Last night after practice we all went to dinner together just because we all wanted to be together and I think that's a key part of what brought us this far." Comments are closed.
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