No. 4 Fillmore volleyball halted in Class D2 Finals after No. 3 Elba captures title off back-and-forth early exchanges, strong finish in straight-set victory over Lady Eagles

PAVILION — Over the course of the season, the Fillmore Lady Eagles started to tell a tale. As the great Emeril Lagasse has always said, they have kicked it up a notch from the middle of the road all the way through Sectionals, now finding themselves at the very pinnacle of the Section V playoffs — the Finals, for the second time in four seasons.

Head coach Lacie Fuller noticed something different about this group as time gradually passed. Having returned only two starters from a season ago, there were plenty of question marks to go around. But through it all, it has been the drive and the determination of her Lady Eagles that allowed them to place themselves within arm’s reach of capturing championship glory once again.

Even if the thought of it originally didn’t become possible at first.

“I don’t think many people saw this Finals run coming from us,” Fuller said. “We only returned two starters, our setters had little to no experience prior to this year at any level. But I always thought to myself that I’ve seen a team like this before. I knew deep down that they had it in them, and that we just needed to keep building. We got better everyday and quietly as a team, we made a run through our bracket. We changed some things up late in the season, which can sometimes make it difficult on players, but they responded and that’s what enabled us to get to where we were able to go.”

Now projecting in their direct line of sight was defending champion Elba, a team with a vast majority of key contributors all returning to the fold for another championship run themselves.

The No. 4 Lady Eagles gave it everything they had in their gas tanks to give the third-seeded champions a run for their money. But in the end, the Lady Lancers were not going to be denied another taste of glory, as they established control of the Class D2 Championship game from start to finish, setting the tone against Fillmore with a straight-set, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 victory to become back-to-back Section V titleholders.

“Tonight, Elba was just a little bit more consistent than us,” said Fuller. “They won Sectionals last year and brought almost everybody back, so I think that experience gave them just a bit of an edge on us. We battled toe-to-toe with them however, and those first two sets could have really gone either way. We talked before the game about not letting the moment get too big for us, and having a good start would be important. I thought the girls were focused and they played their hearts out. Elba was just a bit better.”

Fillmore had to fight their way back from behind through a first two-set sequence that could have tilted the balance of power in either direction. In the opening set early on, the Lady Eagles were faced with four-point deficits on three separate occasions. In the midst of the battle, the team in green and black fought their way towards six points out of seven during their second rally back in the midsection of the set, allowing them to tie the match at 15 at that point.

Looking to keep their foot down, the Lady Eagles used some humongous service points from Michaela Lewis and Annalisa Bialek to pull them back within reach of Elba, but the Lady Lancers ultimately halted their late surge to remain in control of the steering wheel with the first of two 25-23 victories to claim the match lead.

It was a similar predicament for Fillmore in the second set, where the Elba defense buckled down and prevented as much damage as they could to remain in control, going up by a 16-11 count just past the midway mark. But behind the aid of Lewis from the service line again, she helped Fillmore make it all up with five straight service points to erase the deficit completely at the most important juncture of the set, turning it into a 22-22 tie.

The Lady Eagles would nab one more point to claim their first lead of the set, but after a brief back-and-forth trade of points, the Lady Lancers were able to push their opposition towards the brink with another 25-23 win.

Despite the second set defeat, Fillmore showed no quit despite falling behind early in the third set, as they began to connect the dots of the floor with seven of the next nine points going in their direction. All of which, paced off a dynamic approach up front from Mya Keeler, who serviced a couple of big denials against the Lady Lancers to aid in their 8-6 advantage.

There remained a constant exchange of points between the two teams crossing midway in the set, but Elba was able to find an opening against Fillmore to creep back out in front with a 17-16 lead — an advantage they would never give up again, as they proceeded to collect the match’s largest advantage right at the very end of the set to finish off the championship-winning victory in style with a 25-18 win.

Keeler led the offense for the Lady Eagles with five kills and two aces, while Bialek followed with three kills and an ace of her own. Furthering Fillmore’s cause was Eevie Cox on defense, as she kept the ball off the floor with 25 massive digs, pairing them with two aces. At the front of the net, Eleanor Reitnour handed out 10 assists to couple with three digs.

“We won the Division-II League title, we upset the No. 1 seed and we played for a Sectional championship,” Fuller said. “We were short tonight, but I don’t think I could ask for anything more out of this group of ladies. They gave everything they had, and I couldn’t be prouder. They showed so much resilience throughout this season from game to game, and together, these ladies always seemed to find a way. This was something special about them as a team. They always bounced back, never taking the foot off the gas.”

The 2024 season for Fillmore is now officially history, as they wrap up with a record of 14-8 overall. The Lady Eagles will bid farewell to their five seniors at the end of the school year, in Lewis, Cox, Kaitlin Troupe and Aleta Roboski.

“It’s always sad to see another season come to an end. It is bittersweet in many ways, because we all become our own volleyball family in the end,” said Fuller. “We are going to miss our seniors Eevie, Kaitlin, Mikey and Aleta. To my ladies, these last few years have been the greatest being able to coach you and watch each one of you develop into some great volleyball players. You left behind some big shoes to fill. You will greatly be missed.”