OXFORD – As Purvis' players fought back to tears right before receiving their state runner-up medals after getting swept by Newton County 25-18, 25-19, 25-15 in the Class 4A championship game, head coach Kaitlyn Aycock told her team to smile.
"They have a lot of reasons to be proud of what they did," Aycock said. "It's ok to get here and lose. Second out of a whole lot of teams is good. They can't change the outcome, so I all I could think to tell them is that I support them with what they did and keep moving forward.
In a testament to her young program's culture, her players immediately kept their tears in check and cracked smiles in the bittersweet moment.
"They have bought in (to the culture), especially this year has been the biggest change," Aycock said. "They have bought into everything we've said.
"Even watching us lose that game, they didn't crumble mentally. They stayed mentally tough."
Despite being just a five-year-old program, it has to be marveled with how much Purvis has accomplished in the last two years as the Lady Tornadoes reached their first-ever South State championship last season and then built on that performance by reaching the state title game.
Yet Purvis got off to a slow start caused mostly by self-inflicted wounds as the Lady Tornadoes racked up as many as 11 errors in the first set. Newton County then went on a 6-1 run to go up 16-10 and then put the set away with a 6-0 run.
"I feel like our defense held, and then offensively, we just made error after error," Aycock said. "Once we started making a few errors, it's like we get too afraid to be aggressive and attack the balls that we need to attack. We start roll-shotting it, and they are really good at defense."
Another issue for Purvis was stellar play from Newton County's middle, Adilyn Vaughn and outside hitter Aleah McMullan. Anytime the Lady Tornadoes picked up any momentum, Vaughn found a way to kill it as she put up seven kills and four blocks. Vaughn's effort paved the way for McMullan, who finished the night with 11 kills and two blocks, leading to her being named the game's MVP.
"(Vaugh) was my vote (for MVP)," Aycock said. "If I had a vote, that's who I would have picked. We knew that they could put up a block, but I don't think any of us thought that it would be like that. We got into a bad habit of hitting forward rather than around the block like we know how. We have faced teams with big blocks, and they shouldn't be able to shut us down the way they did. My guess is that the atmosphere of the big gym and finally making it to state was a lot of pressure on them.
“(Vaughn and McMullan) worked really well together. They balanced each other really well."
The second set had Purvis leading Newton County 10-8, but the Lady Cougars responded big with a 12-0 run to take a 20-10 lead. Purvis did manage to answer with an 8-0 run, which was sparked by Aubrey Easley as she picked up four blocks in the run. However, Vaughn helped Newton County close the set on a 5-1 run with her contributing three kills in the final run.
"They have tried to stay mentally strong and not let points get them down," said Aycock on her team's mental toughness. "They made a lot of errors that we don't typically make and whole lot of offensive errors against a team that is good at defense."
Purvis held a brief 4-2 lead in the third set, but Newton County pulled away with an 8-0 run to go up 10-4 and ended the match on a 5-0 run.
The Lady Tornadoes were led by senior Shannon Perryman, who had six kills, and Easley, who contributed six blocks and one kill.
Purvis finishes the season with a 19-9 record.
"These seniors have led this pack and set standards for what we need to be in the future, and as coaches, what we need to look for in players that are the type of girls that these girls are," Aycock said. "The hardest thing we lose is the leadership of Clara Lott and Lillie Rider.
"I'm proud of them. Win or lose. I'm proud of what they did. How they got here and the way they have remained classy throughout all of it."
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