The Chapel Hill High School women’s volleyball team clinched the program’s third 3A state championship title in a 4-1 victory over West Henderson on November 9.
After losing 28-26 in the first set, the Tigers came back to win the next three sets, finishing out with a 25-11 win in the fourth set.
The team won its conference this season and finished with a 27-1 record, its only loss coming to Cedar Ridge in September.
With 20 kills, 15 solo blocks and a pair of aces, senior captain Kaya Merkler was named the 3A Most Valuable Player of the State Final. Senior captain Julia Charney, who had six assists, was awarded the North Carolina High School Athletic Association sportsmanship award.
Merkler said it felt amazing to finally win the title after four years of hard work.
“All of us banded together to win,” she said. “We knew that there was no option to lose; we had to win.”
Charney said the team as a whole improved tremendously throughout the season.
“I think the focus has improved a lot,” she said. “We say it every year that we want to win the state championship, but I think we wanted it more this year than we ever have.”
Charney added that winning the state title was one of the happiest moments of her life.
“This is something I will never forget, and I’m so proud of how we all came together to win,” she said. “After losing five crucial seniors last year, I didn’t know if we would be able to make an appearance at the state championship, let alone win it.”
Senior captain Sam Breschi also contributed 36 assists in the game and senior Courtney Zwikker had eight kills.
Breschi said she felt ecstatic when the team’s hard work paid off and resulted in the program’s first state title since 2003.
“It wasn’t just a win for this year’s team, but also for alumni these past few years who had worked just as hard. That win was for them, too,” she said.
Breschi said that because volleyball is such a team-oriented sport, she didn’t have her own personal goal going into the final game.
“Our goal was to stay disciplined and play like we train,” she said. “I can speak for all the seniors when I say losing wasn’t an option for us.”
The team is coached by Ross Fields, who has led the team for four years.
Fields said he had only one objective going into the final: to win the title.
He added that the team set a goal following the first match to have less unforced errors following sets.
Fields said the team worked diligently in practices to prepare for the finals.
“We looked at video that we had found of the other team to try to adjust a little bit based on what they do,” he said. “There wasn’t anything overly special that the other side was going to do differently than most opponents, so we just continued to play our game.”
Fields said the seniors on the team were key players throughout the season, and particularly in the championship game.
“Breschi as our setter was as solid as can be, Merkler was strong on the left like she’s been for four years, Zwikker played an excellent game in the middle, and Charney and [senior] Caroline Wright both passed brilliantly,” he said.
Senior Lauren Stanfa was named the team’s most improved player and was happy to conclude her volleyball career as a state champion.
“Winning felt pretty good because this was something we were working toward not only this season, but ever since Coach Fields got here,” she said. “We had gone to the state playoffs twice, and we really wanted to finish it off. It was gratifying to win.”
