By Sara Page, Midlothian Exchange
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Tony Song promised that no one wanted the state title more than the 11 seniors and one junior that make up the Clover Hill boys’ varsity volleyball roster. The team lived up to its sincerity last Friday as they nailed a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-18) win over district rival Cosby in the Virginia High School League Group AAA final.

The win makes Clover Hill the first three-time state champion in the 13-year history of boys’ volleyball in the VHSL. The Cavaliers’ last taste of victory came in 2005, when the current class was just freshman. Having seen gold once, the group was hungry for another win.

“This is just unbelievable,” Song said, with the team’s newest hardware sitting squarely in front of him. “I see it but I can’t grasp it yet. It’ll hit me.”

The current Cavalier team came together as a matter of need. Having appeared in the state final four out of five years between 2001 and 2005, Clover Hill appeared close to a dynasty. Players rotated through, and each upcoming class was constantly working to fill the holes from the JV level.

“It’s always been about the program,” Clover Hill coach Georjean Lampley said. “If we needed a setter, we were working to build setters. When Cosby opened, it just decimated the team.”

Clover Hill spent the next three years rebuilding, but with the freshman class it had, it didn’t take long.

“Sometimes a class just comes along that has so much athletic ability,” Lampley said. “We used what we had.”

The Cavaliers dug deep to beat a familiar foe. In their seventh meeting, the teams entered tied 3-3 overall and 2-2 in championship situations extending back to the Richmond Volleyball Showcase in the preseason. So it was fitting that teams so evenly matched would meet again to break all ties in the state final.

Clover Hill came out emphatically in the first game. Though Cosby kept the game tied early, the Cavaliers went up 17-14 on a kill by Matt White that landed just inside the service line.

Cosby called a timeout to regroup and scored three points behind two blocks by Cameron Vaile to tie the match.

Clover Hill took advantage of a couple of Titan mistakes to pull out the close 25-23 win. The loss seemed to take the wind out of Cosby’s sails.

“The times we won, we beat them in the first game,” Cosby captain Stephen Cunningham said. “When they won the first game, they won the match. It’s been pretty back and forth all season.”

Clover Hill went on a 7-2 run midway through the second game despite some brilliant play at the net by Cosby hitter Cameron Vaile.

“We just couldn’t stop him,” Song admitted.

Cosby appeared on the verge of a comeback in the third game. Behind kills by Vaile and Stephen Cunningham and blocks by Cameron Rust and Brent Zackon, the Titans kept the game tied. They took advantage of over-hitting by the Cavaliers to grab the lead at 12-10.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Cosby coach Frank Jenkins said. “They fought hard all season. The desire and heart that they showed in the semifinals, down one, on the verge of elimination, shows what kind of a team they are.”

The teams matched point-for-point until Clover Hill got a big kill from Song. The Cavaliers got the point and the ball, which put senior captain Zane Pinkleton behind the service line. He aced the first serve to tie the game. A violation by Cosby and a block by Cavalier setter Andy Hite put Clover Hill in the lead for good.

Senior Mark Smith, who was held quiet through most of the match, made the last kill and was piled up at the Clover Hill service line.

“I think it was actually the one junior, Alex [Dolson] who tackled me,” Smith laughed.

As much as the two schools are rivals, Clover Hill certainly felt for their friends across the court. From playing on teams with each other in the area to living in the same neighborhoods, the squads know each other well on and off the court. The Cavaliers got a big hand during trophy presentations from Cosby and the teams hugged and congratulated each other in the locker room area afterward.

“There’s no team we respect more,” Pinkleton said. “They took three matches from us this season. They’re an amazing team.”

Both teams spread the numbers offensively and defensively. Leading Cosby was Ben Morrison with 11 kills and one block, Daniel Helderman with 18 assists, Brent Zackon with 14 assists, Vaile with eight kills and two blocks, Rust with four kills and one block and Cunningham with seven kills. Clover Hill was led by White with 11 kills and five digs, Song with 10 kills and five digs, Hite with 31 assists, Brett Brooks with 10 digs and Alden Negaard with eight kills and one block.