Catawba Ridge volleyball falls short of state title appearance, but ‘this isn’t the end’
On Tuesday, the day of the 4A volleyball Upper State championship game, two very different teams shared the same court in Fort Mill.
On one side of the net, there stood Catawba Ridge: The home team. The Region 3-4A champs. The group that was playing in its first-ever Upper State championship game, one win away from its first-ever state title appearance.
The Catawba Ridge volleyball program started in 2019 — when Catawba Ridge High opened — and it never had any seniors before this season. But the Copperheads had gotten so good so fast that, by Tuesday night, they had already outgrown being defined by their youth. (In other words, they weren’t good for being so young anymore; they were just plain good.)
On the other side, there was Pickens: The away team. The Region 1-4A champion. The team made up of eight seniors who’d been playing together since they were 11 years old in the town’s unrivaled club leagues. The Blue Flame, coming into Fort Mill on Tuesday night, had won four straight Upper State championships.
When these two teams — with different histories and different pedigrees and practically different everythings — clashed on Tuesday in Fort Mill, Pickens used its championship resolve to defeat Catawba Ridge in straight sets (25-8, 25-17, 25-22).
In the end, Tuesday delivered Pickens a fifth-straight shot at a state title and ended a remarkably promising season for Catawba Ridge.
But Tuesday didn’t mark the end of Catawba Ridge volleyball, its coach said.
In fact, it stands to reason that the CR program — which is placed in a growing school district and in a town that appears to be a hotbed for volleyball talent (see Nation Ford’s 5A state championships in 2018-19) — is set to only get better.
“It hurts to lose,” Catawba Ridge head coach Alicia Lisee told reporters postgame. “And you want to get mad at things that were missed and tips that we couldn’t get, but I’m super proud of them. Even in the huddle, I just (thought) back to when they were all sophomores, my senior class, and we made the playoffs.
“It’s just so much growth has happened since that sophomore year for these seniors, it’s unbelievable.”
Catawba Ridge falls to Pickens, 3-0
The Copperheads didn’t pose any real threats in the first two sets on Tuesday night: They lost 11 of the first set’s last 13 points and 10 of the second set’s last 14 points to put themselves in 2-0 hole.
The home team came alive in the third set, in large part thanks to the performances of senior Marissa Fakes and junior Ariel Bryant. They accounted for a huge bulk of the team’s offense in a third set which, at one point, was tied at 20 apiece.
But the quick offense of Pickens — powered by the team’s Region Player of the Year, Lauren Dow; its North-South All-Star selections, Caroline Lucas and Bailee Earnhardt; and others — proved too much in the end.
“I think that they really played well together as a team,” Pickens coach Rikki Owens said of the Copperheads. “Our girls have been playing together since they were little, so for (Catawba Ridge) to already form that bond within a couple years, that’s huge. The culture of their program is going to take them further.”
Catawba Ridge on Tuesday night finished the 2021 season with a 23-9 record.
But again, Lisee said, this isn’t the end.
“Both of my setters, they’re coming back,” Lisee said. “Marissa is a senior, but our other outside and other talents on the bench and even ones coming up from our JV program, we’re super excited for (them).”
Lisee added: “This isn’t the end of Catawba Ridge. It’s definitely the beginning for us.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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