By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
Covering Lady Braves Volleyball was one of my very first beats when I began as a reporter with the One Feather in October 2023. We are now coming up on October 2024, and although I have been thoroughly impressed with the Lady Braves volleyball program since I started covering them last October, I have never been more impressed by them than in their nail-biting victory over Swain on Monday, Sept. 9.
Bear with me, I’m going to talk about Swain for a minute. I’m an alumna of the Lady Devil volleyball program from top to bottom. I started playing volleyball in Swain’s little league and finished as a varsity Lady Devil. I have the unique perspective of being coached by Swain Co. Hall of Fame coach Sonya Blankenship, who coached her 2008 team to a state championship. Swain Volleyball, as I’ve known it through the decades, is tough. Every Swain player who played under Coach Blankenship knows how tough it is. Now, Lydia Sale, one of the best players to come through Swain Volleyball and arguably the Smoky Mountain Conference, is coaching the Lady Devils. The Lady Devils are tough. No matter their record, Swain is a tough opponent, because I know firsthand how they are forged.
The Lady Braves celebrate winning their third set versus Swain Co. in a miraculous comeback. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photo)
Cherokee beat Swain on Sept. 3 in three sets at the Charles George Memorial Arena. The first set was Cherokee 25 Swain 16. The second set Swain fought back, but the set ended with Cherokee 25 Swain 22. The third set was complete domination by Cherokee, with Cherokee 25 Swain 5.
I knew that meant that Swain was going to play ball when they faced Cherokee again in the Swain County High School Gymnasium on Sept. 9.
The gym was HOT. Unbearably hot. Both teams were wearing long-sleeved jerseys.
Cherokee came out swinging and took the first set 25 to 14. I know Swain felt that tinge, and probably the eyes of Coach Blankenship watching them at the top of the bleachers, they and chose to battle in the second set. Swain won the second set 26 to 24.
The third set showcased Cherokee’s will to win. The will to win is part of why high school sports, and all sports, are more than just sports. The will to win is a glowing example of that innate essence inside of people that drives us past probability. Swain was well ahead for most of the third set, leaving Cherokee in single digits while they progressed into the teens and inched closer to the 25 points needed to win the set. Cherokee started a slow comeback in the latter part of the set, but things looked grim when Swain was just one point away from winning the set. With the score at Swain 24 Cherokee 18, Cherokee’s will to win emerged like fire. It was improbable that Cherokee would come back at least six points to tie the set when Swain only needed one to win, but the will to win is not about the improbable.
It’s also improbable that Cherokee senior (#6) Alexis Davis would go on to serve without error seven times, securing two critical aces in those seven serves, but Davis’s will to win was not about the improbable.
Cherokee won the third set 26 to 24 ending on a kill off the block from So. (#13) Joscelyn Stamper.
Between the third and fourth set, fans poured out of the smothering gym for a break in the cool air. The doors stayed cracked open for the fourth set to let some cool air in and get some hot air out.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth nail-biter. Both teams were swinging hard, both teams were getting up improbable digs, and it looked like the fourth set would be a battle of wills. At 22 to 23 Swain, Swain’s (#5) Gracie Sutton hit a smart hit to the back center of the court while Cherokee was crowded to the front of the net. Dvdaya Swimmer (#4), a junior, read the play ahead of time and shuffled back to dig Sutton’s attack. Davis made another huge dig off the block and Stamper caught the ball at just the right time to dink it right in the middle of Swain’s court. This tied the set 23 to 23.
Stamper killed a back row attack off an impressive back set from Swimmer, making the score 24 to 23. Stamper was back to serve, getting it over and in. There’s a short volley while both teams fight to stay alive. Swain makes a hitting error and that’s the game.
In between all of that from the first serve to the last, there were incredible hustle plays into the bleachers, rock-solid confidence during serves when the score was tied up, hitting the ball hard without fear when one hitting error could cost the game, and an unbreakable, improbable will to win.
In all the victories Cherokee Volleyball has had while I’ve been covering them, all the dominating matches, all the pounding kills, watching this team fight in my home gym and win the battle of wills, was more than all of that combined.
Winning that fight is what wins championships. Just ask the 2023-24 Lady Braves basketball team—many of whom are on the volleyball team. The winner has the will to win.
