High school volleyball: Emery wins first 3A volleyball crown since 1996

Resilience has been the story of the season for Emery, which came into Thursday’s 3A championship match 7-1 in all of its five-set matches.

So, when Morgan pushed the Spartans to a fifth set Thursday, there was nothing but confidence from Emery.

With its back against the wall, Emery responded and earned its first volleyball state championship since 1996.

“It’s been pretty cool,” said Emery head coach Ferd Allred. “We worked really hard for this. I don’t even know what to say.

“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into it and this was our goal all year long, but it has been a long time coming and they’ve been working for this, and congratulations to them.”

Emery’s Abby Morris said the 27-year championship drought was in the back of players’ minds.

“It’s crazy. We were looking at that two nights ago,” said Morris “We have a banner that says that, and we just wanted it. We wanted it more than them. We just wanted it so bad.”

No one stepped up more in the 3A championship win than Morris, who had 23 kills, seven of which came in a crucial 25-23 Set 3 win.

When asked about her performance, Morris had nothing but praise for her teammates.

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“Honestly, my setter and my team (helped me). Getting that pass to our setter and having my setter put the ball in the right spot really helped me, so I think that got us there,” Morris said.

It was a tight match throughout, with every set being decided by five points or less. Emery had the upper hand with a 2-1 set lead, but things looked scary after Morgan rallied for a 22-25 Set 4 win and took a 9-11 fifth set lead.

It’s a situation Emery has found itself in many times throughout the season, but the Spartans have clutched out their fair share of five-set wins.

With a 14-12 Emery lead, Morris had the game ending kill for the 15-12 fifth set win to secure the 3A crown.

“She’s just got a really good attitude as a leader, and she is the person that we can go to take care of the ball,” said Allred.

Morris thanked the strong Region 12 for giving Emery its resilience in five-set situations.

“Honestly, our region taught us how to fight,” said Morris. “Every single game in our region was so hard. They taught us how to fight, and honestly, we went so many games without even sweeping them, and we learned how to fight, and it obviously showed tonight.”