DIVISION I VOLLEYBALL: Green Valley delivers on promise with championship
When Emily Baracco took over Green Valley’s boys volleyball program four years ago, her freshman squad won the season-ending B-team championship.
Several of those players gave her their word they would deliver a state championship by their senior year.
On Wednesday night, five of those players from that team — all seniors now — made good on their promise, as the Gators defeated Foothill 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 to win the Division I state championship at Legacy. It was Green Valley’s first state title.
“We just knew from then, we were going to be the team that pulled it off,” said Chase Larson, who finished with 13 kills and four blocks. “It’s been a rough battle, but once we started getting into a nice flow and started trusting one another and learned this is a brotherhood, we clicked on all cylinders.”
After losing the first set, the Gators (27-5) relied on their relentless defense and stellar passing to overcome a tough Foothill team. It was Green Valley’s fourth win in six meetings against the Falcons (29-12) this season.
“We don’t have just one superstar,” Baracco said. “Our theme the whole year has been that we’re a Gator team; it’s Gator volleyball, and we do everything with Gator pride. While other teams might have one or two standout guys, we’ve got eight guys who step up every match and really trust each other and play for each other.”
That was evident in the title match, as the Gators also got stellar efforts from Zach Hewitt (two aces, 53 assists and nine digs), James Reed (15 kills, three blocks, eight digs), Dustin Elliott (20 kills, seven digs) and Tyler Dancel (27 digs).
In the final set, Reed helped seal the championship for Green Valley, as he accounted for eight of the team’s 25 points, including a pivotal shot he threaded down Foothill’s sideline that gave the Gators a 19-17 lead. The Falcons tied the set at 20, but Reed’s kill immediately after that sparked a 5-1 run to end the match.
“We really thrived in that fourth set, we really wanted to end it there, we didn’t want to keep it going,” said Reed, a junior. “But all credit to Foothill. They’re a tough team to go against. We’ve just worked so hard, we’ve practiced five times a week, weekends, we have workouts, and it’s finally nice to see that hard work pay off.”
Eric Szukiewicz had 11 kills and eight digs to lead the Falcons. Troy Bell added 25 digs, Shilo Chow had 40 assists, and Tyler Jacob had 10 kills.
“Green Valley just played a better game tonight,” Foothill coach Chris Sisson said. “They’ve been on a roll. This is the third time we’ve played in the last few weeks, and they just keep getting better every single time.”
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