Head coach Craig Brown’s Nation Ford girls’ volleyball team just won’t quit.
That’s the biggest takeaway Brown has learned about his squad of determined Falcons over the course of a long season. That lesson proved right yet again on Wednesday night at Nation Ford High School.
Nation Ford battled back from a third-set slump to beat Greenville 3-1 (25-12, 25-17, 21-25, 26-24) and book a spot in the Class 5A Division II Upper State championship game.
“They don’t quit,” Brown said. “They just don’t quit. They’ve been down in some tournaments, they’ve had moments where they’re not as strong, but they’re never, ever out of a game.”
Second-seed Nation Ford (36-7) will travel to Piedmont to play No. 1 seed Woodmont High School (33-5) on Monday, Nov. 3 for the right to reach the state championship game. In the opposite fixture, Woodmont swept Hillcrest 3-0 to reach the Upper State final.
Nation Ford won the opening two sets, but struggled in the third and nearly let the visitors take the fourth. But the Lady Falcons kept their composure and battled through, Brown said.
“We took momentum in the first two sets,” he said. “(Greenville) came back, and they sucked the momentum from us. I don’t know if we really regained it in the fourth, but this is a team that’s battle-tested. It’s a tough, tough matchup.”
Brown said he told his team not to let the moment get too big and to be aggressive with their serves.
Nation Ford quickly stamped its authority on the first set. Down 5-4, libero Addison Gollnick dove hard for a dig that kept a rally alive and forced Greenville into an unforced error. That point kicked off a 5-0 run for Nation Ford to take a 9-5 lead and force the Red Raiders into a timeout.
Julie Nzambele and Julia Hoos provided strong defense at the net to help the Falcons push an 8-1 run. Cameron Schwede supplied three straight aces to give Nation Ford a double-digit lead, and Lila Martin picked up two cross-court kills to push her team to match point. Hailey Albert then served an ace to secure the quick win, 25-12.
Greenville took an early 5-2 lead in the second set, finding spots near the net to make returns and beat defenders.
Martin recorded back-to-back kills to turn the set around and help Nation Ford take the lead on a 5-0 run.
Greenville cut the lead to 14-12, in part due to their ability to recycle the ball. The Red Raiders near-court kill cut the Nation Ford lead to 14-12.
Albert’s ace ended the Greenville rally, and Nzambele recorded four more kills to power a 7-2 run and push the lead back to eight. Nation Ford won the second set 25-17.
Greenville took a closely-contested third set, building an early 9-2 lead by hitting returns close to the net and forcing the hosts into tough returns themselves.
Following an early timeout, Albert’s defense at the net forced Greenville into an error, while Martin stuck back-to-back kills to cut the lead to four at 9-5.
Schwede’s ace and Kayleigh Reeves’ defensive tip cut the Greenville lead to 14-12, and Nation Ford worked hard to tie the set up at 15-15 after a long Red Raiders’ return. But Greenville earned the next four points to retake the lead and eventually win the set 25-21.
Greenville led 7-4 early in the fourth, then led by as many as five when Jakiyah Carson earned back-to-back kills.
Still, Nation Ford fought back throughout the set and used a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 18-16, forcing a Greenville timeout.
Nzambele tied the set at 21-21 following a long Greenville return, then forced two more deadlocks at 22 and 24-all. Nzambele recorded at least four kills in the fourth set to help cut into and eventually overtake the lead.
Hoos’ tip at the net gave Nation Ford its first lead of the set at 23-22. Martin’s kill at 24-all set up Nzambele to score the set point and match point, a hard hit across court, allowing the Falcons to take the set 26-24.
“We got a little tight, but this senior leadership has really stepped up their game, on the court, with their leadership,” Brown said. “We’ve got some go-tos, but there are more than a couple we can rely on.”
Brown said Woodmont was a very solid team with outside threats. He said it would be a challenge to knock off the top seed on their own court, but said he was confident in his group.
“Woodmont won’t make it easy,” he said. “You don’t get a No. 1 seed for nothing. But I think this team is talented enough to do their best. You have to have some things fall your way, and I’m super proud of this team.”
Nation Ford swept all 12 region matches this season to secure the Region 3-5A title and earn a bye into the state playoffs. The Lady Falcons then defeated Easley 3-0 earlier this week in the second round.
Nation Ford made it to the state title game last year, but fell to North Myrtle Beach High 3-0.
