Papio South volleyball achieves 鈥榠ncredible鈥� feat of perfection
PAPILLION, Neb. (BVM) 鈥� The Nebraska School Activities Association has crowned a volleyball state champion in Class A 鈥� the state鈥檚 largest classification 鈥� every year since 1972, and it鈥檚 a rarity for a team to make it all the way through its season without a loss. In fact, aside from Omaha Marian, which won all 19 of its matches in 1972, only one other program has finished a season unbeaten of Class A competition: Papillion-La Vista South.
Remarkably, the Titans accomplished this rare feat for a third time this past Saturday when they swept Millard West (25-15, 25-14, 25-14) to capture their fifth state title in 12 years. Papio South finished 40-0, achieving perfection for the first time since 2011 when the Titans went unbeaten for the second straight season on their way to winning three straight Class A state titles (from 2010-12).
鈥淭he ability to do what we did this year is incredible,鈥� Papio South head coach Katie Tarman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a feat that鈥檚 very, very difficult.鈥澛�
One only needs to look back two years ago to the Titans鈥� last state championship run to see just how difficult it can be for even the best Nebraska high school volleyball teams to navigate an entire season without a loss. In 2019, Papio South claimed its fourth state title in program history with a record of 24-17. In contrast, this year鈥檚 squad, which was ranked No. 8 in , only dropped four sets in 40 matches.
鈥淭hat season was such a growing season,鈥� Tarman said of 2019. 鈥淪ome of the key components to the starting lineup were on that 2019 team and it was just such a year of growth and understanding how to maintain composure during adversity and play from behind. We didn鈥檛 start out the year with that mental component, but we grew so much and I think that they鈥檝e carried that into 2020 and now 鈥�21 and they鈥檙e just so much more composed and focused in that ability.鈥�
The Titans came up short of winning back-to-back titles last fall when they lost the Class A title match to Elkhorn South, but they came back this year even more hungry to win it all and loaded with more than enough Division I talent to make it happen, including senior Kansas State commit Ava Legrand (S/OH), senior Iowa pledge Harlei Cole (DS) and junior Rutgers recruit Kenzie Dyrstad (DS/L).
鈥淭hey obviously did come up short in 2020 and that fueled them with a drive and hunger that kind of went unmatched throughout the season,鈥� Tarman said. 鈥淭hese kids are just phenomenal. They just carry themselves with maturity and drive that is hard to compete with.鈥�
Papio South won鈥檛 be much easier to compete with next season with many key players coming back. Along with Dyrstad, the Titans will also return three of their top four attackers: junior outside hitter Stella Adeyemi (387 kills), sophomore outside hitter Lauren Medeck (379 kills), and sophomore middle blocker Morgan Bode (151 kills), all of whom are D-I prospects. Tarman won鈥檛 easily replace seniors like Legrand, Cole, and Lewis University-bound middle blocker Emma O鈥橬eill, but there鈥檚 plenty of reason to be excited about the prospects of Papio South making another run at back-to-back titles in 2022.
鈥淓very year you kind of look and have this bittersweet feeling of losing such amazing kids,鈥� Tarman said. 鈥淥f course it鈥檚 going to be hard to replace our seniors, but somehow and someway these kids grow and mature and turn into these incredible leaders. So it鈥檚 going to be super exciting going into next year again because not only are they going to get better through their club seasons as volleyball players, but they鈥檙e going to mature and we鈥檙e going to come back with guns blazing again and go for the same thing.鈥�
Perfection, of course, will be hard to match. But as the NSAA record book shows, if anyone can do it, it鈥檚 the Titans.
