`Columbia —There’s a first for everything in sports, and it just so happened on Thursday at
Dreher High School’s gymnasium that Bishop England won the first South Carolina High School
League–sanctioned state championship in boys volleyball with a 3-0 victory over Catawba
Ridge for the AAAA title.
Dorman later won the AAAAA crown.
The Bishops (18-3) won a state championship in the new sport last year, but while the High
School League sponsored boys volleyball, it did not sanction it, which made it more of a club
sport.
While some may overlook that fact, it is not lost on Battling Bishops head coach Alec Swanson,
who hunted for words to describe the feeling of seeing his team claim a championship.
“Insane,” Swanson said immediately before following up with reasons. “It was always a thought
process because we were returning so many. We lost two seniors last year, so we knew it was a
possibility. But the idea of going for a AAAAA title as a 2A school … we ran into a lot more difficult
teams this year, so there was always a question mark as to whether we would, but it’s an
indescribable feeling.”
Perhaps the most difficult game was against Lucy Beckham Monday for the lower state
championship. Bishop England dropped the first two sets before rallying to win the next three
and claim the lower state title.
Compared to that marathon, Thursday night’s match was a shade less riveting.
“A little bit less gray hair,” Swanson said. “That’s a great feeling, especially to come out and
do it to such a good school like Catawba, and do it for the first Class AAAA state title? No better
feeling.”
The Bishops got off to a fitful start against the Copperheads (21-9-1).
Catawba Ridge built an 11-6 advantage as the Bishops fell victim to unforced errors.
Swanson called a timeout and got his team to settle down.
“They’re kids, and even pros get nervous in a game,” Swanson said. “That first timeout we
took, I said, 'Hey, we got our nerves out, let’s get to work now and go from here.' "
And so they did.
The Bishops won points enough to get to a 12-12 tie. The Copperheads later took a 17-13
lead, but once again Bishop England battled back to take a 19-18 lead.
Eventually Bishop England won the first set 25-21.
Bishop England stayed ahead just enough in the second set to keep Catawba Ridge at a
good distance. The Bishops won four straight points to take a 24-17 lead, and Will Mazur’s kill
secured the final point for a 25-18 second-set win.
Bishop England got into a groove in the third set, as Mazur, Zach Mullen and Thomas Dietrich
showed their strength at the net. The Bishops jumped to a 14-3 lead and won it 25-13.
“We’ve had a lot of 5-set games this year, so I guess we’re used to playing longer games and
difficult matches,” Swanson said about the third set. “But we’ve got nine seniors on the team and
all nine are in that rotation of playing, so we have a lot of experience with that.”
Catawba Ridge head coach Ross Lisee said his team's experience with boys volleyball began
in May of this year.
“My guys have never played volleyball before, but our guys have a lot of heart,” he said. “On
that first set we should have showed that we were here and we were meant to be here. “Obviously
it was not the outcome that we wanted. We made a lot of mistakes.”
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