College Park — The Century Knights won their first girls volleyball state championship by stopping Fallston's bid for a second straight crown. The Knights beat the Cougars, 3-1, in the Class 2A finals Saturday at Ritchie Coliseum.
The Knights (19-1) dropped the first game, 25-23, but won the next three, 25-23, 28-26 and 25-21, using big hits and solid defense to lead the way. In games two and four, the Knights rallied from behind to win the school's first volleyball title in its first appearance in the finals.
"It's kind of surreal right now," said Becky Groves, Century's head coach. "It's amazing. Some of these girls I've coached for four years, I'm just so proud of them."
"We've really worked hard to get where we are today," she said. "It wasn't just one year of work, it's all four years combined that's brought us to be state champions."
For Fallston, it wasn't the championship ending the Cougars sought.
"Not the turnout we hoped for, but we played great volleyball today," Alison Winaker, Fallston's head coach, said. "Give Century a lot of credit, they came out today ready to play."
The Knights ran out to a 6-1 lead in game one, anchored by the kills from Abby Thrift (19 for the match). Fallston, however, rallied to take its first lead at 9-8 and then again at 17-16 on Rachael Holehouse's seventh kill.
A bit later, an ace by Holehouse pushed the Cougars ahead, 23-20, forcing Century to call a timeout. Trading the next few points, Fallston put the game away on Abby Claborn's kill for the two-point win.
In game two, it was the Cougars who jumped ahead to lead, 6-1, before Century's Thrift picked up a couple more kills. Another Holehouse kill, one of a match-best 32, followed with a serving ace for a 10-6 lead.
A McKenzie Black block gave the Cougars a 14-6 lead and the Cougars maintained its eight-point cushion, 16-8, on Kristina Dziki's only kill of the match.
Century stormed back on back-to-back kills by Morgan Thomas, trimming the Fallston lead to 16-14. The Knights caught up at 19-19 and then surged for the win, led by kills down the stretch from Alyssa Dixon and Thomas.
In the pivotal game three, both teams traded blows with 13 ties and seven lead changes. Century appeared to pull away with a 21-16 lead, but three consecutive Fallston kills closed the gap to 21-19.
The Cougars, who finished 19-3 on the season, pulled even at 23 and led, 24-23, on a Holehouse kill. A Haley Bordner kill retied the game, but Holehouse added another kill for a 25-24 Fallston lead. A Cougar hit out of bounds retied the game and the Cougars took their final lead, 26-25, when Holehouse hit the ball off of a Century player.
Then Century's Thomas took over, killing three straight points for the dramatic two–point win.
"I think I was just pumped," Thomas said. "It's my senior year and we made it to the state finals."
Thomas finished with 16 kills and 14 digs.
With their backs to the wall, the Cougars came out quick in game four as Dziki's serves gave Fallston the first three points.
Century grabbed its first lead at 12-11 on a Thomas kill, but soon trailed, 16-12, after two aces by Dziki.
Century's Anna Collins countered a short time later with two aces, part of four served points by the senior. Thrift followed with two kills to push Century ahead, 20-19, but Fallston's Phoenix Offutt tied the set with a block.
Tied at 21, Century put together a match-ending surge. Thomas had two kills for the 23-21 lead and Thrift's last kill put the Knights on match point. The Knights won the final point when Holehouse's hit landed a foot too long.
Senior Steph Whealton came up big against the power of Holehouse with a team-high 19 digs. Hailey Thrift added 13 digs and Collins had 12 digs and four aces.
Anna Holehouse had 19 digs to lead Fallston. Sierra Offutt added 11 digs. The loss was the first for the Cougars in two seasons against a Maryland opponent.