‘Changing the culture’: Northwestern volleyball reflects on special region title season

The Northwestern Trojans were eliminated in the opening round of 5A volleyball playoffs with a 3-0 loss to JL Mann, but the overall improvement from a year ago has given the program an idea of how good it could one day be.

First year head coach Hunter Moxley’s team went through the region schedule with a mark of 6-2, which was good enough to earn the league title. The Trojans swept Rock Hill and Spring Valley, while splitting matches with Blythewood and Ridge View. They went 3-6 in non-region play to finish at 9-8 in the regular season.

The region title for Northwestern was the first one in many years, and the competitiveness of the team in every game was vastly better than when Moxley took over.

“We had to change the culture here, and we did that,” said Moxley, who was hired this summer and was an assistant at South Pointe last year. “The players bought in early, and they believed in what we were doing. They were never late to practice, and they worked extremely hard to get better every day.”

The Trojans had six seniors on the team this fall, and the leadership they provided on and off the court was a big reason for the success of the team.

“They led way above what I thought they might do,” he added. “They were passionate about what they wanted to get done this year. It was remarkable to watch them lead this team.”

Three of the seniors made the All-Region team. They were outside hitter Claire Sumwalt, setter and outside hitter Lainey Chitwood, and defensive specialist Anna Lucy Black, who recorded her 1,000th career dig during the season and earned The Herald’s Fall Athlete of the Week honors last week.

In addition to that trio of performers the Trojans also counted on four other players in every match. They were senior setter Kierstin Lollis, senior middle hitter Alyssa Brazzell, sophomore outside hitter Elizabeth McElveen, and sophomore defensive specialist Isabella Black.

“We played as a team all year,” added Moxley. “We won together and lost together. We had each others’ back every step of the way. That was a big key to the turnaround we had.”

Moxley added that he had seniors on this year’s team who had never beaten Rock Hill.

“They (Rock Hill) have always had a solid program, but we were determined we were not going to fold up when we played them,” he said. “Beating them twice was a huge boost for our confidence and our program.”

The Trojans will lose a lot of talent and leadership from this year’s outstanding team. Moxley knows that is part of the process. He said he feels that next year’s edition of the Trojans will be very good.

“When I look at the future, I see greatness for this program,” added Moxley. “I say that because I see the foundation that was put down this year by the senior leadership and players changing the culture. That will be imprinted on the returning players, and we will be a better team moving forward.”

Moxley knows where he wants to take the Trojans’ program.

“We set a goal this year as a team, and we worked to achieve it,” he added. “We are not finished, because we are not where I want us to be. However, we are getting there, because the pride is back in the program.”

Other volleyball action around Rock Hill-area

The Indian Land Warriors advanced to the third round in the 4A playoffs with a pair of home victories earlier this week. They topped Greenville 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-23) in the opening round. The Warriors followed by defeating Lugoff-Elgin 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-10) in the second round. They will travel to play the Pickens-Eastside winner on Monday for the Upper State title.

The Nation Ford Falcons, who are the two-time defending state champions, got a win in the first round of the 5A playoffs. They topped Byrnes 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-15) at home. The second round resulted in a road loss to TL Hanna by a score 3-0 (29-27, 25-17, 25-13). Their season ends with an overall mark of 24-3.

Catawba Ridge dropped its first round 4A match to Eastside by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-23). They completed the season with a record of 10-9-3.

In 1A the Lewisville Lions, who finished second in their region, lost to Southside Christian 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-10) in the first round of action.