Myrtle Beach volleyball gets over hump, reaches state final

Admittedly on edge for much of Tuesday, Larry Church suddenly found peace in sharing an embrace with his two young daughters.

It was a moment he had waited years to have with the girls, the Myrtle Beach volleyball coach finally with the assurance that his team will be playing for a state championship.

Election Day closed school doors in Horry County, but the Seahawks pushed another open on Tuesday, claiming the Lower State 4A title with a 3-0 victory over Lugoff-Elgin (25-21, 25-9, 25-20).

With the victory, Myrtle Beach moves on to Saturday’s Class 4A championship game against Aiken. The match will take place at Dutch Fork High School, with first serve at 4:30 p.m.

“I thought Lugoff-Elgin would be a St. James, North Myrtle Beach team… teams that have taken us four and five sets this season,” Church said. “When they come in tonight, I’m sure the crowd had a lot to do with it, the excitement of the moment, our girls didn’t shy from the moment. They really stepped up and played hard tonight.”

No one likely believed a sweep was in the making early on, as the Myrtle Beach and Lugoff-Elgin traded the lead on 12 occasions in the first set. Extended rallies were the norm, strong shots returned one after the other due to the teams’ strong defense.

It was something Church was prepared for, though, expecting holes to become harder to find as the level of play increased.

“Everyday we scrimmage, and have long rallies and we do things where we continuous work hard to end a play,” he said. “So I think a lot of that I think has helped us this year, completing matches and completing each rally – point by point, and play by play.”

As the first game dragged on, the ability of Gracie Davis and Cassie Runyon to finish at the net proved too much for the Demons, with the Seahawks earning five of the set’s final seven points.

Some of the negative momentum carried over into the second for Lugoff-Elgin, uncharacteristic mistakes allowing Myrtle Beach to establish quite a lead. On the other hand, Davis continued her strong play, with teammates feeding her passes to finish ahead of the outstretched arms of Demon defenders.

While Lugoff-Elgin could not get out of its own way, the Seahawks cut down on their number of errors, something Davis said helped build the team’s confidence as it surged to a 2-0 lead.

“In the first set, we made 12 errors and in the second set we had three,” she said. “The errors just went away, and we were just playing as well as we could.”

Though Myrtle Beach could taste a trip to the state final, the Demons continued the good fight, tying the game in the third on three occasions. Despite the push, it would not prove to be enough, as middle hitter Lauren Arnold’s shot found a void in the back of the Lugoff-Elgin defense, setting off a postgame celebration by Seahawks players, coaches and fans.

“My team are fighters,” said Lugoff-Elgin volleyball coach Katie Hamm. “That is what we try to put in them from the beginning of the season. Fight and it comes down to playing together as a family. Myrtle Beach is very good, I don’t know what to say other than that. (Davis) is very strong, and we did what we could but they came out on top.”

Davis had 17 kills, while Runyon added 16 kills, a blocked shot and an ace, and Darby Sheets offered 11 kills, 11 service points and three aces. Danni Hix offered 36 assists, 10 service points and an ace as well.

Despite the natural high of a Lower State title, Church admits there is a lot of work yet to be done prior to Saturday’s state championship match.

“… I’ve calmed down a little bit and realize there is a lot of planning to do,” Church said. “You don’t want to jump the gun, but there is a lot of planning to do between now and Saturday.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach volleyball gets over hump, reaches state final."