Pushed to a fifth set with the Class AAAA state championship hanging in the balance, the Aiken High volleyball team talked about how they had been there before.
The Hornets had played in plenty of big matches this season, and just last week they hit the road and forced a fifth set against Pickens to win a rematch of last year’s state title match to advance to the semifinals.
So in the huddle before the best-of-15 sprint to the finish, they just talked about leaning on each other, coming together to embrace the pressure they were feeling, having fun and playing calm - and, of course, winning today.
For one last time this season, the Hornets did just that. Their two-sets-to-none lead over North Myrtle Beach vanished, but the Hornets refused to watch their title hopes do the same. They bounced back and finished strong, wrapping up a 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 27-29, 15-11 victory that was their 40th of the season, 32nd in a row and gave them the third state championship in program history.
“I’m gonna not cry,” said Aiken head coach Jeremy Rinder before pausing for a moment. “It started a long time ago, and it’s just, like I told you the other day, this doesn’t define them but it’s a fitting culmination for all the work that they’ve put in.”