1 week Ago By George Bremer The Herald Bulletin
DALEVILLE – As the Daleville volleyball team huddled before the decisive fifth set of Saturday’s Sectional 55 championship match, there was an unmistakable feeling the Broncos were built for this moment. After playing with the burden of great expectations throughout the season, Daleville looked a little too fired up in the early sets against upset-minded North Miami. But after failing to close out a late lead in the fourth set, a calm seemed to fall over the Broncos as tension filled the gymnasium.
By the time senior Trishell Johnson’s 22nd kill hit the court to complete a hard-fought win in the final set and a grueling 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-11, 23-25, 15-10) victory overall, it was difficult to imagine the match ending any other way. “We’ve been working through some difficulties, and I feel like once we can finally click it together, it all makes sense,” Johnson said, “and we just have to stay in those moments where we all feel like we’re playing as six and everything’s clicking.” There were times en route to a fifth straight sectional title when Class 1A No.
6 Daleville seemed to be in peak form. The Broncos put pressure on the Warriors (16-13) with a late rally in the opening set and solidly controlled the second and third frames. When sophomore Madelyn Rees and senior Valyn Pattengale turned back a North Miami attack with a combo block to complete a 4-1 run and give Daleville a 21-20 lead in the fourth set, it appeared another sectional title was imminent.
That feeling was even stronger moments later when Rees slammed down one of her match-high 32 kills to put the Broncos in front 23-22 and the Warriors called their final timeout. Then momentum changed. Freshman Layla Hampton scored a kill to tie the set and give North Miami the serve, and junior Ashtyn Halterman posted back-to-back aces to force the fifth set.
While the visiting crowd erupted in celebration, there was no panic evident from Daleville. After a quick chat with coach Gayle Hicks near the bench, the starters huddled on the court and decided they weren’t going to let the match slip away. “Just about how we need to take the momentum that we got in all of the other sets and we really need to multiply that and add them all together to get the most out of the whole team as we can,” Rees said of the conversation in that huddle.
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At the fourth set, we were going back and (forth) a lot, and that was our main goal (in the fifth set) was to not let that happen.” The Broncos snapped an early tie with a 5-0 run keyed by a block from Pattengale, two kills by Rees and the last of Johnson’s six aces for a 10-5 lead. When junior libero Kelsi Kahalekomo – who made numerous point-saving digs – added her only ace, Daleville led 12-6, and the Warriors called timeout fearing the end was near.
North Miami responded with three straight points out of the break, but Rees’ final kill ended the run and moved the Broncos within two points of the championship. A Daleville error briefly kept the Warriors’ hopes alive before junior Denae Browning sent an attack perfectly into the back corner of North Miami’s side of the court to bring up match point. Johnson took care of the rest, slamming her final kill with significant force straight into the middle of the Warriors’ defense.
The leadership of the Broncos’ four seniors – Johnson, Pattengale, Emily Simmons and Cassidy Rees – was tested to its limit. But they responded like the champions they are and will finish their high school careers without ever losing a sectional match. “I think (with) the pressure of being sectional and (the) championship game, absolutely (it was tested),” Hicks said.
“But they came out and proved themselves. They proved themselves.” Some sloppy play by the hosts led to a 6-0 North Miami lead in the opening set, and the Warriors built their advantage to 20-10 before the Broncos began to find their footing.
North Miami ultimately had to fight through four consecutive set points to finish off the narrow victory. Daleville started the second set on the front foot, carrying over its late momentum for a 4-0 lead. The Warriors rallied to tie the score at 5-5 before the Broncos took control with an 8-2 surge.
The lead peaked at 18-10, and Daleville was not seriously threatened down the stretch. The third set turned with an early 12-2 Broncos run for a 17-7 advantage led by Browning and Simmons in the front row, and it looked as though the hosts might run away with the title. But North Miami fought back to take the match the distance.
“We had so many games to show what we need to work on, and there were so many changes that were made positive and negative,” Madelyn Rees said. “So I think we really need to go back, look at those and work on those.” Daleville got big contributions from nearly every player who entered the lineup.
In addition to the heroics of Madelyn Rees and Johnson, Browning finished with seven kills, a block and two aces, Simmons had three kills and three blocks, Pattengale added three blocks and a kill, Cassidy Rees had four kills, a block, an ace and likely more than 40 assists and Kahalekomo displayed her usual brilliance in the backcourt. The Broncos (25-5) likely will need similar performances next week when they face eighth-ranked Faith Christian (25-4) in the regional at Norwell at 1 p.m.
“It gives us more to expect,” Johnson said of preparing for her fourth straight regional appearance. “It gives us more to be like, ‘We haven’t made it past regionals.’ We’re gonna try to do that this year.
“We’re gonna try to figure it out and get it. We’re gonna try to figure it out this year.”.
