How does it feel to win a state championship in volleyball? The Pickens High School volleyball team knows once again, as they scored victory in Columbia, defeating May River High School, and becoming the South Carolina High School League Class AAAA Girls Volleyball Champions on Saturday, November 16. This is the 17th state championship in school history for Pickens High School volleyball.

Team members this season, in alphabetical order, are: Charlee Abercrombie, Krysta Bennefield, Lexi Catlin, Kaylon Chapman, Lily Clarkson, Kaci Gillespie, Allison Hendricks, Laney Kinard, Ashlyn Knight, Khloe Morrow, and Marissa Tate. They are coached by Head Coach Mellie Crumpton and Assistant Coaches Tommy Crumpton and Ken Vanderhoof.

“Only a few get to have that feeling of running on the court after match point at a State Championship!” Pickens High School Head Volleyball Coach Mellie Crumpton told The Pickens County Chronicle. “It is indescribable! The best feeling in the world, but also very emotional because of everything we went through this season. It is no secret that we didn’t start off as a strong Pickens squad, and that’s ok. Isn’t the whole point of the season to improve and peak at the right time? I believe that is exactly what we did. We went on a 10-0 run to end our season as State Champions! Our Road to State was one of the hardest of any team in 4A. We went in seeded fifth and upset the #1, #2, and #4 seeds and swept them all in three at their home court! Who does that? Since October 13, we have gone an incredible 30-1 in sets! That is peaking at the right moment!

“This team has an incredible story to tell! There is no way I can describe it all. We lost a lot of players, some seniors from last season, just like everyone else, but we also lost a few key players who didn’t return for numerous reasons. So, we had three main starters from last season returning, leaving two freshmen to fill our middle hitter positions. One of those would be Charlee Abercrombie, who had really only been playing for two months before attending spring practice in May, and Kentlea Davis, who only played her 8th grade year in middle school. After our preseason tournament, we met as a team to analyze our weekend. The players shared how everyone doubted us as a team. Comments had been made that we had no defense this season, that, if we had to pull up underclassmen, then we must be horrible. Throughout the season, we had more trials. We were faced with injury after injury. Our two outside hitters both suffered ankle injuries, and our starting six rotation setter was injured during the preseason tournament and wouldn’t return until the middle of our regular season. Then, we had three different players quit throughout the season. One key player was our starting libero, who decided to exit one week before the regular season ended. Then, you have the normal highs and lows of teenage girls. People don’t realize what a toll it takes on you, practicing and overcoming obstacles for almost seven months. Players are tired, in different ways, by the time playoffs begin. But, then we changed our focus for the season. Our drive at the end came from our quote, ‘You can’t get it all unless you give it your all!’ We began ‘locking in’, as the girls like to say. We really came together as a team, and it showed, on and off of the court. Making a sweep through four rounds of playoffs is incredible! The end of our story is one that no one expected! One of my players told me this on the bus, after we just won State, ‘I told the girls to believe in the process and to trust the coaches. They don’t tell us things to make us worse. And they did! Look what we got!’ That says it all! Our story ended Saturday as 4A State Champions, and the title of our story is ‘One of the Greatest Pleasures in Life is Doing What People Say You Cannot Do!’

“I would like to give a shout-out to my players for stepping up and showing out! We had several key players who stepped up during playoffs! Allison Hendricks stepped into the libero role and took control of the defense with her speed and quick reaction! Saturday setter Ashlyn Knight stepped up as a leader on the court to encourage her teammates when they were down and switch the momentum to our side. A shout-out to Kaylon Chapman, who proved to be unstoppable in the third and fourth sets at State! In the third set, when we fought back from 14-20 and then 19-24, she tallied up 9 kills with 0 errors! She also led the team in digs with 20. Our two freshmen middles also fared well Saturday, with only one hitting error each, giving Abercrombie a .333 hitting percentage and Davis a .286 hitting percentage! That’s remarkable, being able to produce like that on such a big stage!”