Tors rally to reach state tournament
Published 6:55 pm Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Rodrick Anderson
SULPHUR — Things looked bleak for No. 8 Sulphur in its Division I volleyball regional playoff game against No. 9 Acadiana Saturday.
The Tors battled back from a two-set deficit only to see the Rams set up for a match point in the fourth set. But Tors rallied around a monster block by senior Abi Massey and won in five sets 22-25, 12-25, 2-17, 26-24, 15-11, to punch their first ticket to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state tournament in 17 seasons.
“I don’t know if I can believe it yet,” Sulphur head coach Bridget Coppels said. “I am just excited to get to spend another week with these kids with (Hurricane) Laura getting us out the whole month of September then we had to evacuate five days for (Hurricane) Delta.
“I have six seniors, and this was a goal since they were freshmen. All I said was ‘You have to step up if this is what you want. If you want to make it to state after being down two sets to none, you have to step up. You have to have heart, and you have to gut it out.’ That is exactly what they did.”
Sulphur will face No. 1 Dominican (28-2) in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner. Dominican knocked the Tors out in their last trip to the state tournament in 2003.
Acadiana took a 24-22 lead on two Sulphur errors in the fourth set. But Massey’s block of the Rams’ top hitter, Amaya Crutcher, tied it at 24-24, and senior outside hitter Cara Murphy got two kills to force a fifth set.
“Massey’s big block in that fourth set, that set the tone,” Coppels said. “I said the other day that Massey had to step up for us to be successful.
“In sets four and five, Abi Massey stepped up. The fifth set felt like she was unstoppable. I am really proud of Abi Massey for stepping up at the end and for Cara Murphy for stepping up there. The fifth set just takes everyone playing with heart.”
It was the first time this season that Sulphur (15-0) fell behind by two sets and the second time it played a fifth set.
“We have worked so hard for this and we never gave up on each other,” Murphy said. “We just had to pull it together and get through it.
“You just have to have confidence in yourself that you can do what you are supposed to do. You can’t be nervous that you are going to give it away. You just do what you know.”
The score was tied seven times in the fifth set. Acadiana took a 10-9 lead on an ace by Iniya Coleman. But a trio of kills by Massey put the Tors one point from the state tournament, and Bridget Trahan closed it out with an ace that skimmed the left baseline.
Massey had eight kills and 10 digs and Murphy finished with 10 kills and 16 digs. Trahan had a strong all-around game with nine kills, 10 digs, three blocks and three aces, and middle hitter Erika Whittington finished with 12 kills, 16 digs and four blocks.
Crutcher used eight of her match-high 18 kills to lead Acadiana to wins in the first two sets. Sulphur used a 7-1 run break a 7-7 tie and take control of the third set.
Kirk Meche
