Over the weekend Heritage Christian Academy won their second consecutive KCAA state championship. That alone is extremely impressive because repeating in any sport, as many of you well know, is about as hard as it gets.
More impressive was the fact that they did it while completing a perfect run, undefeated, against opposing teams in the KCAA. Not one match lost. However, that may not be the most impressive part of this years run to a title.
In the tournament, facing the best of the best, HCA did not lose a single set. Not one.
Now it took fight, and comebacks, certainly do not want to portray this historic feat as easy. They did pull it off though.
Opening round taking on Valor Christian Academy was their only game, oddly enough until the title match, where they did not give up more than twenty points in both sets. They defeated Valor 25-12, 25-7, which was more than likely a huge component of their ability to sweep Cornerstone because after playing Valor at 4:15, they had to turn around and play Cornerstone at 8:15. It also probably helped that Cornerstone had to play their initial game after HCA and they were pushed to the limit by Lexington Latin 27-25, 25-21. That being said, again, it was not easy for HCA.
The Lady Warriors trailed early in set one but fought back to win it 25-21. Cornerstone then proved they belonged taking a sizeable lead before HCA showed what made them so special this season storming all the way back to win 26-24. After such an exhaustive but incredible effort, it was a good thing the Lady Warriors did not have to play until two pm on Saturday.
Community, their semifinal opponent, had handled their business as well but in a much different way. Their first two games in the tournament had gone to three sets each. Meaning that despite the fact that they also got rest before lining up against HCA, they were in a wholly different place.
That being said they challenged the Lady Warriors greatly and ended up being their greatest adversary on route to the state championship.
Set one went to the wire as Community led 24-22, set point, before HCA rattled off four straight to stun the Crusaders 26-24. Credit Community, most teams in that situation would not have the self discipline and maturity to respond in the following set. A similar story would play out though. Once again the Crusaders were on set point 24-22 and once again the Lady Warriors rattle off consecutive points to win 27-25. The resiliency by HCA was indescribable.
After that heavyweight semifinal bout, it was almost tangible the feeling of no one could stand in their way on pace to win another state title. That feeling only intensified when they watched Oak Ridge, a team HCA had defeated three teams this season, take on Community and win.
Oak Ridge had lost to Community in the quarterfinals and was forced to battle their way out of the losers bracket. Oak Ridge would do just that defeating Lexington Latin, Holy Angels, and then Community on their way to a state title game appearance. Unfortunately, they ran into a team that had beat them three times already this year, a team playing with supreme confidence, and truth be told a team that had played one game that day as opposed to three. Oak Ridge just had nothing left.
Those Lady Warriors gave the HCA Lady Warriors a fight nonetheless though. HCA would win 25-13, 25-15, still giving up double digits in both sets.
As expected the state champions boast the state tournament MVP, the honor being given to senior Elle Heltsley.
It was display of pure dominance all season on almost every level by the Lady Warriors.
Next season they move up and begin competing in the KHSAA which will be so much fun to watch, and while yes it will be better competition, do not kid yourself, HCA will still compete at a high level. They boasted a 13-6 record this year against KHSAA teams.