Taylor volleyball coach Tanya Ramos promised her team would be back at the state volleyball tournament next year. And they will be better.
“We will definitely be better,” Ramos said. “We have room to grow.”
In their second state appearance in three years, Taylor’s youthful inexperience showed up often against defending state champs Sneads. The Pirates swept the Wildcats 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) for their second-consecutive Class 1A title.
Taylor lead early on in the first set before Sneads put together a string of 11-straight points, on the service of Ashlyn Roberts, for a 21-13 lead. The Pirates closed out the first set on a 4-1 run.
“She’s a great server,” Ramos said of Roberts. “She’s got a lot of movement on the ball.”
When Sneads wasn’t hurting them with their serves, they were killing the Wildcats at the net. Emily Glover led the Pirates with 11 kills.
Taylor didn’t have any players in double-digit kills. Cameron Neely had four and Zoe Wolley had three.
In the second set, thanks in part to a strong defensive game by Allie Carroll (14 digs), Taylor kept things relatively close for a while. A 5-1 run by the Wildcats cut Sneads lead to 13-8. And another run later in the set but the Pirates lead to three. But that’s as close as Taylor would get.
Sneads jumped out to a 15-5 third-set lead before Taylor strung together three-straight points. Still, the Pirates were able to pull away.
Taylor managed to save two match points before Sneads wrapped up the victory.
Wildcats players thanked their boisterous fans and posed with the runner-up trophy when it was over. For the seniors though, captain Kathryn Hearn said it wasn't about the upperclassman.
“This season wasn’t about us,” Hearn said. “It was about giving the young ones experience."