Goliath rules the day in 2A volleyball final

Bishop England sweeps Gilbert to earn its ninth consecutive title

By WORTHY EVANS - Special to The State

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Gilbert High volleyball coach Jackie Shealy had good reason to share the story of David and Goliath with her team Saturday morning.

The Indians faced eight-time Class 2A champion Bishop England in the state championship match at White Knoll High.

“We knew we were going to play a giant today, but we hoped we were going to play good defense and take away their middle hitters,” Shealy said.

Gilbert's Sarah Eargle spikes through the block of Bishop England's Samantha Celek, left, and C.C. Deas. It was not enough as Bishop England claimed the Class 2A championship.

- Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Story: State championship volleyball roundup

Unfortunately for Gilbert (20-1), there was no victory against Goliath. Bishop England swept the Indians 25-14, 25-20, 25-14 to earn its ninth consecutive title and 19th crown in 31 years.

“We seemed to struggle a little bit with that today,” Shealy said of her team’s strategy. “Our defense at times looked pretty good, but we were taken out of our offense. Our hitters had six or seven kills, and we’re used to getting 20 or more.”

With the first set in hand, Bishop England (22-6) fell behind 6-2 in the second set. The Indians eventually created a 14-9 advantage. After Bishops scored a point on defense, captain Rebecca Kerrison served for seven consecutive points to give Bishop England a 17-14 lead.

Sarah Eargle and Courtney Frye led Gilbert to a 7-2 advantage in the third set, but the Bishops turned it around with Katie Cummings serving and took an 8-7 lead. Bishop England never looked back.

“We knew coming in that they were going to be really scrappy,” Bishops coach Cindy Baggott said of the Indians. “They were going to throw things back at us, we were going to get balls coming back that we normally aren’t accustomed to getting back, and they lived up to that.

“I told my hitters to keep hitting away, keep swinging away, and wear them down with our offense.

With Gilbert losing two seniors and Bishop England one, Shealy looks forward to a possible rematch in next year’s state final.

“This group’s not going away. They’ll be back,” Shealy said, adding that falling to the Bishops did not diminish the season. “We’re not going to base our whole season on this one loss. They’ve worked hard and they deserved to be here at the state.”