Golden Girls: Fayetteville Wins Title
It was a championship team led by a record-breaking star.
Showing no signs of being a state tournament newcomer (though they were) the Fayetteville Lady Lions made themselves right at home in Garland last week. They swept both their state semifinal and championships matches to earn the school’s first-ever state volleyball title.
“They all stepped up and had their best game of the year,” said Fayetteville head coach Clint Jaeger after his team knocked off No. 1-ranked Blum 25-15, 25-23, 25-22.
In that title match Fayetteville’s Brooklyn Jaeger did something no other high school volleyball player had ever done in the history of the Texas state tournament. Her 40 kills in the title match broke the state record for most kills in a championship.
“She’s a heck of a player,” said Blum head coach Lauren McPherson of Jaeger, a junior who has verbally committed to play for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after high school.
Blum (36-13) was the reigning state runner-up and had come into the state tournament ranked No. 1 and had not lost even a set to a Class 1A team this season.
But they hadn’t played Fayetteville yet.
The Lady Lions actually fell behind in all three of their sets in the title match, only to storm back each time.
“We knew beforehand that Blum was really good, a solid all-around team and all facets of our game were going to have to be clicking,” said Fayetteville head coach Clint Jaeger. “The girls stepped up, they kept their composure.”
Senior Mattie Konvicka had 40 assists. Sophomore Kayme Schley had five kills and 12 digs. Senior Alley Keen had eight digs and had a long serving run in the first set that fueled a comeback. Marissa Rohde had seven digs and Rylie Dyer had five.
“I’m a little bit shocked,” McPherson said. “No one comes into the state championship thinking that’s what it’s going to go like. They really had some players step up and do things we hadn’t seen them do all year. Props to Fayetteville.”
Thursday’s win caps a remarkable season for the Lady Lions, who compiled a sparkling 46-2 record.
The Fayetteville girls for three years straight had seen their seasons end in the regional finals, one win away from going to the state tournament.
“We’ve wanted this so bad and dreamt of it for so long, we don’t know how to comprehend it all,” Schley said.
“Every year since my freshman year we’ve been one win away from state every year,” Keen said. “We’ve gotten better. This year not only did we get to come here, but we won it. We’re state champions. Words cannot describe how I feel right now. It’s unbelievable.”