The Bridgeport High School volleyball team made school history Saturday, Nov. 10 when it claimed the WVSSAC Class AA title, defeating county rival and defending state championship team, Philip Barbour.

 

It’s a quest which the Tribe has been adamant about for four consecutive years, annually making the trip to the Charleston Civic Center, but returning home without the win.

 

Until this year.

 

Though reality of the win has taken time to sink in, Coach Ali Burton said it feels simply awesome.

 

“It’s really like a little relief because this group has worked so hard and made so many sacrifices,” she said. “We watched them for three years now try and fail, try and fail, but they never gave up. For a coach, all that hard work and drive is really satisfying when you have a group like that.”

 

She and  her husband, Assistant Coach Grant Burton, said their girls were determined this year and that showed on the court. During their first match against Nitro played Friday morning, the Lady Indians wrapped it up in three straight sets: 25-9, 25-14 and 25-13. That evening, the Tribe took on Independence, outscoring the Patriots in 1-2-3 fashion: 25-17, 25-16 and 25-8.

 

Finals against Philip Barbour on Saturday didn’t go as smoothly. After claiming the first set 25-17 over the Colts, the Tribe fell 25-22 in the next two sets.

 

“Obviously, we won the fourth to force it into five sets,” Burton said. “We knew what had to happen and those girls came out and it was like they said, ‘This is ours and we’re taking it.’”

 

The Tribe ultimately pulled off a 26-24 victory and as the fifth set unfolded, Burton said she took a deep breath with each point scored, concentrating on providing ongoing encouragement to her athletes.

 

“I would yell to them things like, ‘You got this,’” she said. “I don’t know whether they could hear me or not.”

 

The Indians claimed the tiebreaker 15-10, clinching the state crown.

 

Leading up to finals, Burton said she played out scenarios in her head.

 

“In the majority of those scenarios, we won, but as a coach, there is always that ‘what if,’” she said. “You have to be mentally prepared so you can help the girls mentally if it doesn’t go that way. We’ve been there before and it's hard to know what to say to a group of seniors who worked so hard.”

 

Winning the state championship with a close match over Philip Barbour made the victory even sweeter, Burton said. The Indians had beaten the Colts three times during this year’s regular season, but a state championship victory wasn’t a given.

 

“We’ve been in that situation before – beating them three times during the regular season and then losing at states,” she said.

 

Going into the state tournament, Burton said if her girls played as a family – and for each other – good things would happen. The athletes pledged to make that happen by adopting the slogan “All In,” which they stuck by tournament play. BHS was led by seniors Payton Hefner, 60 assists; Kristen Crowder, 31 kills; Katelyn Stanley, 15 kills, an ace and two assists; defensive specialist Sami Wilson, middle blocker/defensive specialist Juliet Hart and sophomore Shea Hefner, 13 kills and five aces.

 

Also instrumental to the Tribe’s overall 41-5-5 record for the 2018 season were Payton Merica, Alicia Batarie, Ashley Spring, Julia Griffith, Emma Romano and Violet Sickles.

 

Making the Class AA All-Tournament team were Kristen Crowder, Payton Hefner and Shea Hefner.

 

Burton said she, her assistant coach and team are savoring the state championship, but she can’t help but let her mind wander just a little into the next season. She’s losing a handful of key players to graduation, but some of her starters will return and additional talent is coming up.

 

“Shea and Payton will return and they were both huge for us this season,” Burton said. “We obviously look forward to still having a good group of girls who have bought into this program and we’re excited for that, too.”

 

Editor's Note: Photos are courtesy of Don Burton. The photos just above feature #13 Payton Merica and #9 Kristen Crowder.