Newton County had every answer for Caledonia on Thursday night, as the home-standing Lady Cougars defeated the defending state champions 3-0 (25-21, 30-28, 25-19) Thursday night in the third round of the playoffs.
Newton County head coach Matthew Beasley said this is their first trip to North or South State in only the third year of the program. Even though Caledonia appeared to take control in the first and third sets, Beasley said they were able to answer each time.
“In any girls sport, Newton County never gives up,” Beasley said. “I can’t say enough about the grit and determination of the girls. I don’t think there’s anyone in the state that has got girls like we’ve got.”
The Lady Cougars (31-4) advanced to take on Northeast Lauderdale, a team which swept Newton County in district play, Monday night in the Class 4A North State Championship.
While the Cougars won all three sets, Caledonia (28-11-1) had their chances in each of the sets, but head coach Samantha Brooks said her senior-laden team just didn’t make the plays they needed.
“It just wasn’t God’s will; it wasn’t in the cards for us,” Brooks said. “We just didn’t expect for this to be our last match this season. We really thought we would be playing for another state championship.”
Caledonia got off to a strong start, taking an 8-3 advantage to start the match. But Newton County rallied and took six of the next seven points to tie the set. Then the Lady Cougars went on a 5-0 run to build a 16-13 lead, taking the first set 25-21.
Newton County faced adversity in the second set, as Caledonia had a set point at 24-23, but the Lady Cougars rallied and eventually took the set 30-28 on a controversial call.
Caledonia appeared to be running away with set 3, taking a 10-1 lead. Newton County, however, rallied again and tied the match at 16-16. Then the Cavaliers were whistled for a violation while Newton County was serving. The officials told Brooks that her setter put a foot on the line. From that point, Newton County never trailed again in the set, taking it 25-19 and getting the sweep to advance to North State.
The adversity they faced against Caledonia was nothing compared to what the Lady Cougars have been through, Beasley said.
“We had a girl playing with a stomach bug, throwing up all night. We had another out there playing with a sublux shoulder. One girl was in wreck last night. Our girls are tough,” Beasley said.
