The St. Mary’s School girls varsity volleyball team recently competed in the Knoxville Independent School League (KISL) small-school tournament and beat Apostolic Christian Academy to win the championship at the Knoxville Christian School’s gym, in a winner-take-all match. This is the school’s fourth consecutive season and tournament championship.
Individual Awards were received by St. Mary’s students – Paige Halcrow won MVP & All-Season, Kelli Ann Corbett won All-Season and All-Tournament, and Caroline Elliott won All-Tournament.
St. Mary’s won the regular season with a 9-1 record, under the leadership of all new coaches. Head Coach, Angie Goodwyn along with Assistant Coaches, Kendall Doogan and Dennis Urban joined together to guide and inspire this group of Lady Crusaders. The two top-seeded teams in the tournament advanced to the finals and would not disappoint in the title match. St. Mary’s and Apostolic showed off their fundamental volleyball skills in a loud and intense best-of-three-sets match. To get there, St. Mary’s defeated Webb School in the quarterfinals and Knoxville Christian School in the semifinals.
Apostolic raced out to a 1-set lead, winning that first set by a wide margin, 25-15. St. Mary’s girls refused to give in, and squeaked out a physically-draining 25-23 second set win. During that second set, it was extremely tight; Apostolic looked like they had the second set in hand, but St. Mary’s upped its intensity level, and reeled off the last four points to win the set. The third set would prove to be the difference, as St. Mary’s outlasted Apostolic to win the third set 15-10.
“The girls worked very hard this season, my number one goal was to make sure they could all consistently serve and pass well, knowing that if the game was close our girls pull out a win. I couldn’t be happier winning my first season and tournament as head coach,” said Angie Goodwyn.
Assistant Coach, Kendall Doogan commented, “During the championship game all of their hard work and determination came together for a heart-stopping match against ACA. I am so proud of the girls. They stayed positive and focused on their goals. They were gracious winners. I am wholeheartedly looking forward to next season!”
