Valley View continues dominance with title

CLASS 4A VALLEY VIEW 3, BROOKLAND 0

HOT SPRINGS — Valley View made its customary trip to Bank OZK Arena and left with the usual hardware.

The Lady Blazers capped off another dominating postseason run by erasing an early deficit in the third set to take down Brookland 25-13, 25-14, 25-23 and win the Class 4A state volleyball championship Saturday.

“I’m a little stumped,” an emotional Valley View Coach Margie McGhee said after leading her team to their seventh title in a row. “I really don’t know what to say. The hard work they put in. … Our fans and our parents are behind us 100%. I wore my T-shirt today that says ‘Family’ on it, and that’s something that we really, really stress.

“And not just the girls on the court. It’s really about that culture and being all in it together.”

Valley View ( 35- 3) has been all in for every one of McGhee’s 22 seasons as coach. The Lady Blazers were making their 19th consecutive finals appearance and had won 15 state championships before eye-popping performances from a host of players sent them to title No. 16.

Natalie Supine walked away with Most Valuable Player honors after putting up 10 kills and three blocks for Valley View, which lost only one set during the state tournament.

“I knew that we could do it,” said Supine, who registered 53 kills for the tournament, including 17 in Valley View’s semifinal match against Shiloh Christian. “We just had to work hard. All the work we put in during practice, we just had to leave it all out on the floor. But [winning] doesn’t get old, and knowing that all the hard work paid off in the end … it’s special.”

Hadden Lieblong had 11 assists, 9 kills, 7 digs and 3 aces, while Micah McMillan finished with 21 assists, 12 digs and 5 kills for the Lady Blazers. Morghan Weaver also chipped in with 10 kills.

“Year after year, [ Valley View] is solid,” said Brookland Coach Nancy Rodriguez, whose team lost to the Lady Blazers four times this season. “That group has been a good group for a lot of years. A lot of them were here last year, so they know the style. They were prepared, and they came out and did what they were supposed to do.

“They’re just a great team.” Brookland (27-10), which got nine kills and two aces from Savannah Pope and eight kills from Hannah Bass, did show its mettle during the third set after dropping the first two. The Lady Bearcats, behind a string a ripping shots from Pope and Madelyn Smith, scored eight of the first 10 points. Valley View, as Rodriguez expected, made a huge run midway through the frame and eventually grabbed an 18-17 lead after a Brookland serve sailed wide.

The lead changed hands four times until the Lady Blazers capitalized off another errant serve to snap a 22-22 tie. Supine’s kills down the middle of the floor gave Valley View a 24-22 advantage before Lieblong’s smash along the left side of the court won it for Valley View.

“I told them, the third set is going to be tough because [Brookland] is not going to give it up, ” McGhee said. “They’re a talented team, and they aren’t going to give it up. And sure enough, what was it, 8-2, when we finally started playing a little bit better. I just think maybe the jitters of it all and the possibility of winning after we went up 2-0 kind of gets to you a little bit.

“But we settled down. It was just an emotional game. … It’s a great volleyball game if you can go 25-23 and get every bit out of all the points.”