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But two weeks before the regular season came to a close, the Bobcats began to assemble some momentum in Region 8-AAA -- momentum they used to capture a Lower State championship on Wednesday.
That momentum, however, came to an abrupt halt Saturday afternoon at White Knoll High School in Columbia, where Daniel swept away the Bobcats 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-21) in the Class 3-A state championship match.
The Bobcats finished the season at 30-17-3.
"We played well against a very, very good team," Stern said in a phone interview Saturday night. "They're big, they're quick. We were constantly on defense. We ended up giving them a lot of free balls, and they came back at us at about 100 miles per hour."
Daniel's diverse attack prevented the Bobcats from finding any offensive cohesiveness. Mackenzie Cooler's six kills were a team high. Emma Maines added four kills, while Lisa Glover had three. Ella Wyman added 16 assists, and Amanda Thompson had two blocks.
"That's probably the fewest number of kills we've ever had in a three-game match," Stern said.
After dropping the match's first two games, the Bobcats fought back in a back-and-forth third game before coming up short.
"You know, the girls played very well. I'm not at all unhappy," Stern said. "They worked real hard. They never gave up. We just played a better team."
The loss denied Bluffton's attempt to win its second Class 3-A state title in three years, but earning that attempt didn't seem likely earlier in the season for a team that included seven seniors.
The Bobcats struggled to find unity over the first two months of the year as Stern searched for the team's best unit. He found it at the right time during a win against Hilton Head High to clinch the Region 8-AAA championship in mid-October and used it throughout the postseason.
"From that point on, we just kept getting better and better," Stern said. "The last few weeks we've been playing so well that it's been a lot of fun. The season started slow and ended fast."
