Bluffton back in state title match

The long road back to the Class 3-A state volleyball championship really wasn't so long after all.

Two years after winning its first state title, Bluffton High School's volleyball team is headed back to the championship match after the Bobcats rebounded from losing the first game Wednesday to beat Camden 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-16, 25-21) and claim their third Lower State title in five years.

Bluffton will face D.W. Daniel High School in the Class 3-A championship match at 4 p.m. Saturday at White Knoll High School in Columbia. Daniel defeated Riverside in five games for the Upper State title Wednesday.

The Bulldogs' season ended in the Lower State finals for the second consecutive season -- they lost to eventual state runner-up Hilton Head High last year after ending the Bobcats' state title defense in the second round of the playoffs.

"That was really our motivation," said Bluffton junior Kellie Cooper, who had 10 kills Wednesday. "We said we weren't going to let them do that this year."

That goal didn't look so promising early on.

The Bobcats dropped the first game for the second time in their four playoff matches, losing three consecutive points to squander a 24-23 lead.

In its second-round match against Airport, Bluffton came back to win after a spirited discussion between games, but coach Al Stern said it was clear his team didn't need a similar pep talk Wednesday.

"The difference was in the first game against Airport, we really didn't play badly, but you just didn't see that intensity," Stern said. "Tonight in the first game, we played with intensity -- it was a really great volleyball game -- so the fact that we lost that game really didn't bother me."

And it didn't faze his team, either.

With a balanced attack -- Ella Wyman's 36 assists went to five different players, led by Mackenzie Cooler and Lisa Glover with 12 kills apiece -- the Bobcats clawed back into it quickly. They took control of the second game with a 6-0 run to go up 18-10, reeled off a 7-0 spurt to seize the momentum in the third game and endured a 9-1 Camden run to hold on in the fourth game and seal the victory.

This Bluffton team has been nothing if not resilient -- it bounced back from a surprising loss to Battery Creek earlier this season and won the Region 8-AAA title -- and the Bobcats showed more of the same Wednesday.

"Even when they started coming back and beat us the first game, the girls didn't quit, and they just kept playing great volleyball," Stern said. "I thought Monday night (against North Myrtle Beach) was the best match we played all season, and I think tonight we outdid ourselves from Monday."

Each round of the playoffs has brought a greater challenge for the Bobcats, and they'll face their biggest one yet in top-ranked Daniel. The Lions haven't played in the championship match since 2003, though they did win four state titles in the 1990s.

Like they were two years ago against Pickens, the Bobcats probably will be considered the underdog.

"They're big and good," Stern said of Daniel. "But Pickens was big and good, too.

"We'll go up there and see what happens," he added. "On any given day, you never know. That's why they play the game."