DALEVILLE — The 1A No.9 Daleville Broncos claimed their eighth sectional championship — and first since 2016 — with a 25-22, 25-7, 25-15 sweep of Tri-Central (8-17).
“It’s hard to say in words, but just being in the moment with the team, the coaches and the community, from the beginning we said ‘our time is now,’” Broncos coach Valorie Wells said. “We’ll believe that all the way through five-day workouts to now.”
The championship capped a day where the Broncos had to get past their toughest opposition of the sectional in the semifinal round.
It was a long time ago, back in mid-August when Daleville lost a three-set volleyball match to Wes-Del.
Two months later, the Broncos bounced the No. 2 Warriors from the state tournament. Daleville won a thrilling five-setter in Saturday’s morning session, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 11-25, 15-10.
And they did it despite looking down and out in that fourth set.
“Most teams would have folded after a beatdown like that, but we knew they wouldn’t,” Wes-Del coach Biff Wilson said. “They’re on their home court. They’re fired up. They’ve got plenty of firepower out there and plenty of good team spirit and chemistry.”
And that’s exactly what propelled Wells’ Broncos, a chemistry among her players that wouldn’t evaporate.
“I was like, ‘Let’s just end this. Let’s not worry about it. It happens’,” Wells said. “I just told them to keep coming in the fifth, give everything you’ve got. And they wanted it.”
Wells said chemistry has been the key to a 23-7 season included a 3-0 loss to Wes-Del in August.
“We really worked on the chemistry part all season long,” Wells said. “Getting the connections. It was mainly the connections and chemistry in the front row.”
In Saturday’s match, the Broncos got key points in the second and third sets to prevent Wes-Del from closing out a set like it did in the first.
In Set 2, Amarah McPhaul – who had four kills in the first set – came up with three big ones late in the second. She swung from the left side twice to score Daleville’s 21st and 22nd points, and then she swung from the right side for the 23rd point. After a Wes-Del timeout and two points, Daleville closed it out with a kill from the middle by Trishell Johnson and a block from senior Julia Andreassa.
In the third set, Daleville trailed 20-17 before rallying. Senior Audrey Voss had back-to-back kills, one of them a first-hit swing where she ripped to an open spot on the Wes-Del side. Johnson then served an ace to tie it at 20-20. McPhaul had a kill and a block, and Emilee Finley had an ace as the Broncos took a 2-1 lead.
McPhaul transferred from Wes-Del prior to the school year and had a season-high 12 kills against her former team.
“From the beginning, even when meeting Amarah when she transferred, I told her to really focus on this team here and this chemistry that we have and that we are building Daleville volleyball back,” Wells said. “She has really soaked that in and (she’s) being proud of not only, but being proud of bringing that chemistry and fire to us.”
The fourth set was all Wes-Del, but Daleville showed its character in the fifth, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on a couple of Warriors mistakes. Wes-Del (24-7) managed leads of 5-4 and 6-5 before Daleville took the lead for good. An Andreassa kill made it 7-6, an Abby Reed ace made it 8-6 and a Voss kill made it 10-7.
Johnson served an ace to make it 12-8, and two Wes-Del hitting errors expanded the lead to 14-9. Voss closed out the match, swinging from the left side and putting the ball down on the far side of the court for the winner.
Andreassa, Voss, libero Emi Isom and Sydney Nixon are seniors.
“She just really steps up as a senior,” Wells said of Voss. “I mean, heck, I put her back row today, just for her to be on the court and be a leader, and she does that very well. She keeps everyone positive.”
The Broncos now head to a loaded Wes-Del regional site Saturday. The 10 a.m. semifinal pits Seton Catholic (14-17) against No. 3 Lafayette Central Catholic (23-9) before Daleville takes the court against sixth-ranked South Newton (30-4).
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and learn to adjust to the other teams,” Wells said. “I don’t know much about them, South Newton’s record is good but, they’ve never met with us before. We’re going to give them a battle and we’re going to fight to the end.”
The championship match will be played Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
THB’s Rob Hunt contributed to this report.
