For the first time in a while, the S.C. McPherson Sharks are into the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) volleyball championships for junior girls.
Their girls came from behind to knock off the A.F. Adderley Tigers, 14-17, 17-15 and 15-6 yesterday at the D.W. Davis Gymnasium. In the decisive third set, the Sharks won nine of the final 10 points to put the set and the match away. Fellisha Major served up their final five points from the service line - two of which came on aces right down the middle of the Tigers defense.
The Sharks will now go on to play the H.O. Nash Lions in the championship series which will get underway today at the A.F. Adderley Gym. The Lions turned back the D.W. Davis Pitbulls in the other sudden death playoff game, 17-4 and 17-12.
"I thought our performance was pretty good today. We came back from a shaky first set and pulled off the victory," said Sharks' first-year Head Coach Da'Nai Larrimore.
"A.F. is a good team and they came out with a lot of energy, but we responded and played like we should have from the beginning. We just have to go into the championship now, play our game and not theirs, and we should be okay. H.O. is a really good team with a really good coach but we feel confident about what we are going to do tomorrow (today). We have to work on a few things, and we know what they are. We'll be ready. Once we play our game, we'll be ready to win the title."
The Sharks fell behind early in the third and final set yesterday, but Coach Larrimore called a timeout to regroup her girls, and they responded in a big way. The Tigers scored three of the first four points to take an early 3-1 lead. After the quick timeout, the Sharks reeled off five points in a row, to surge ahead 6-3. After the Tigers pulled to within 6-5, the Sharks ended the match by scoring nine of the final 10 points.
"I felt that we could have won the game, but the girls lost their confidence in the second set," said Tigers' Head Coach Stephanie Kemp. "Once they made that first mistake and fell behind, they lost their confidence, and it was all down hill after that. We just didn't execute and play like we should have played. I'm disappointed because I know that we have the ability to play much better. We'll just have to come back stronger next year."
This year the Tigers will have to watch the championship series from the stands. Meanwhile, the Sharks are looking forward to their match-up against the defending champions Lions. They lost to them in the regular season, but Coach Larrimore feels confident that they will turn the tables on them this time around.
All four of the championship series - junior girls and boys, and senior girls and boys - will be played today at the A.F. Adderley Gym.
The junior girls will start things off, followed by the junior boys, the senior girls, and the senior boys will close out the proceedings tonight.
Sheldon Longley, Guardian Sports Editor
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