Liz Zatalava rolled into last year's volleyball region title game in a wheelchair after undergoing surgery that day to repair her knee. Friday night, Zatalava strolled out a region champion after contributing to Rising Sun's 25-15, 25-20, 25-9 victory over visiting Queen Anne's. "This was the game I missed [last season]," Zatalava said. "I came in in a wheelchair. It was really great to have the opportunity to be able to show that I can come back and that if you work hard you can come back from anything regardless of how much people doubt you."
Zatalava counted herself as of those skeptics. "I doubted myself a lot over the year," she said. "But I knew I could come back better and stronger. Coach [Rich Wilson] even said, 'You came back better than you were before and I'm so impressed with you'." Her teammates were cognizant of the significance for Zatalava and rallied around her Friday, making sure she would have a different range of emotions this time around. "They knew it was sentimental because I didn't get to play this game last year and I really wanted to," said Zatalava, who had three kills Friday. "They were definitely there for me." The senior middle hitter says that cohesiveness is the major reason for the undefeated Tigers' success. "We all have a strong connection with each other," said Zatalava. "I don't have a biological sister so they're all kind of like my sisters. We talk about anything and everything. If you've had a bad day, we talk about it. I think that's made practices so much better. The second thing is the fact that we don't let judgements get to us. We could be considered the underdogs because we lost so many seniors but hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. I think we showed that." The scrappy Queen Anne's squad hung with the Tigers for the first part of the opening two games but each time the hosts pulled away. "I'm a coach. I'm never happy," Wilson said. "We didn't hit well. We hit well in streaks so we were a little off offensively for some reason. Serving is about where it's been. I'd like to see it a little more consistent. But as long as we can keep them out of system, in other words break down their serving so they can't get good sets, you kind of have to be happy with that. And that's what we've been doing the past couple weeks. Passing was good. I thought after our setters settled down they started setting better balls. I thought everybody was a little too hyped up. It's not like football. You don't want crazed people running around on the court. But it's not like golf either. It's always a balance and I thought they were a little too hyped up and that showed early. Once we settled down and started plain in the middle of the first game, we kind of flew past them. And in the middle of the second game, you could see us relax a little bit. Then they started coming back. You can't do that. You've got to play on an even plane the whole time." Rising Sun rolled in the third game to clinch its fifth straight region championship. "I was not displeased but I'm not extremely happy with the way we played," said Wilson. "I thought we played well in stretches. In other stretches, we were a little shaky. As usual, it's volleyball. Probably more than in any other sport you watch, this is a momentum sport. It turns on a dime. All of a sudden they're on a three or four point run and you're struggling to pass the ball. And then after either a great defensive play or a good hit, the switch turns the other way and you're on a roll and they're off." Said senior Grace Webb: "I think that we definitely picked up our energy," Webb said. "We didn't underestimate them but I think after we picked up our energy we realized, 'Hey, we're better than this team and we can do this'." Rising Sun remains undefeated heading into Monday night's state semifinal match against LaPlata. "It feels great," Mackenzie Blevins said. "Our team has worked really hard to get to where we are so it feels great." Blevins, a key cog on four consecutive region title teams, has experienced the highs and lows of the state tournament, winning it all in 2015 and falling in the state finals last year and in 2014. "We know what a win feels like and we know what a loss feels like," said Blevins. "Obviously, we like the win feeling better. So working together as a team really means a lot." Webb, who had three kills Friday, transferred from Tome prior to last season. "This definitely means a lot more," said Webb. "I'm a senior. I'm just ready to win this. I want to do this for my team, do this for myself, for my family. I'm excited." She can't wait for Monday night. "I'm just so excited," she said. "I'm just ready to take this to the next level and go to states. Relief, happiness, overwhelmed." Webb says the Tigers learned a valuable lesson last season. "We definitely can't put all of our hopes onto one player," she said. "It's a team effort. All of us have the talents in ourselves to win states." Blevins recorded 13 kills and 10 assists. Emily Jackson provided 15 assists to go along with three kills. Sophia Eckerd supplied six kills. Jasmyne Moore had a team-high four aces and Breelyn Young contributed six digs. It's the 15th region title in program history. The Tigers have captured three state titles. "If it means anything, it means that the program itself is alive and well," Wilson said. "If you take away each individual team and you look at it in its totality, it says that we've got a program that's self-sustaining over the years. Doug Clark, who used to coach down at North Caroline, has a saying that I like: 'Tradition never graduates'. And if I look back at some great players and some great teams and we've had some great wins and some heartbreaking losses. but year in and year out, these girls take the court and take up the tradition that's been going on." Comments are closed.
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