2 weeks Ago By Lauren Rosenberg
The Elysian Fields Lady Yellowjackets made program history this week, clinching the rights to be named area champions and advance to the regional semifinals after sweeping Harts Bluff 3-0 with scores of 25-8, 26-24 and 25-21 at Hawkins. Never since the inception of Elysian Fields volleyball, no matter the Texas UIL classification, have the Lady Jackets earned their spot in the regional semifinals. The closest they got was back in 2020, where they lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Harmony in the Class 3A playoffs.
The demeanor of this squad was loose but focused. During pregame, they were dancing to the music to keep the spirit up and leading each other in stretches. They were locked into their warmups and seemed so focused on making history.
The first set was a breeze for Elysian Fields. After going up 7-2, Harts Bluff called a timeout after Elysian Fields had two aces and a double block and kill by Madison Owens and Allison O’Brien. In total, the Lady Jackets recorded six aces in the first set.
Harts Bluff may have been absolutely walloped in that first set, but there was no way the Lady Bulldogs were going to go down that easily. A back-and-forth second set led to one of the most dramatic ones this season. Harts Bluff quickly went up 7-4, forcing an Elysian Fields timeout.
The Lady Jackets went on a 7-1 run to take an 11-8 lead, forcing a Harts Bluff timeout. Harts Bluff followed with a 10-6 run to retake an 18-17 lead, forcing an Elysian Fields timeout. With the Lady Jackets forcing a comeback, Harts Bluff took their final timeout, leading by just one points at 23-22.
Elysian Fields tightened up their defense and executed smart swings to force a 24-24 tie, and then finished it up with a kill by Owens to take the second set 26-24. The third set wasn’t like the theatrics of the second set, but it was still tight and exciting. The Lady Jackets could feel the win coming in their bones but knew they couldn’t get complacent.
After Elysian Fields went up 14-10, Harts Bluff took a smart timeout. After the timeout, Harts Bluff tied the game up at 14 all, going on a 4-0 run and forcing an Elysian Fields timeout. With the Lady Jackets going on an 8-7 run and taking a 22-21 lead, Harts Bluff called the final timeout of the game.
It was not as fruitful as the first of the set as Elysian Fields went on to win it 25-21 and secure the sweep. “At one point, it was 11-7 [Harts Bluff] and then we came back. It was 22-21 and we came back and that just shows you how much heart they had.
I did think they could pull [the comeback] off but they had to play smart all over the court and they did. They put the ball where it needed to go and to win the game,” said Coach Crystal O’Brien. But that third set win meant something completely different to Elysian Fields as a whole.
Sure, they made history and moved onto the regional semifinals, but it was a matter of how they secured their spot and who was on the floor. Sophomore libero Taylor Youngblood was the sole non-senior on the court. Coach O’Brien decided to put in all five seniors, Allison O’Brien, Carson Davis, Kyleigh Stephens, Ava Henigan and Shelby Roberts, to give them all the opportunity to make history together.
Youngblood ended it on an ace to put the cherry on top of this poetic moment for the Lady Jackets. “Our serves, they did a great job serving. They intimated [Harts Bluff] but the neatest thing about the last point was that all my seniors were on the court.
So all five of my seniors were able to be on the court for the final point as we made history,” said O’Brien. Stephens and Henigan were beyond dominant on the offense end. Stephens recorded eight kills while Henigan led the Lady Jackets with 10.
“[Harts Bluff] only had one blocker, so it was kind of easy to find the open line and that was a good spot to hit. Their defense were pretty quick but they had open holes so it was easy to find those spots and hit it there multiple times,” said Stephens. “With their defense, the line was always open.
Hitting hard is not always what you need to do to get kills all the time. It’s just having court awareness and swing as hard as you can which helps too,” said Henigan. These two seniors were beyond excited to rave about how proud they are to go to battle with this team and make history in their last year.
“It feels really good. It was a long time coming. Playing all four years, we’ve never done this good in district or in playoffs so it feels good for it to be my senior year and have us doing this well,” said Stephens.
“It feels amazing. This team has come a long way. I love this team so much.
We’ve really come together these past four months and it just feels good,” said Henigan. Coach O’Brien knew these girls were going to do something special against Harts Bluff and expressed how proud she was at how they fought and battled when they could’ve easily let the deficits get to them. “I’m super excited that the girls played with all their heart.
They wanted it, every bit of it. They were fired up and ready to go. They weren’t nervous one bit and they dominated.
They showed up to play. We knew it was going to be a historical day and I’m glad that it’s this group of girls. They’re an amazing group and are so much fun.
They’re leaders on and off the court,” said Coach O’Brien. Elysian Fields historic season continues next week when they face the winner of Frankston and Groveton..
