‘Mentally tough’ Hilton Head volleyball team withstands late surge to win state title
Hilton Head Island High School’s volleyball team entered the 2020 season with two goals: Prove it could play safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and win a state title.
The Seahawks checked both of those off Thursday, defeating Pickens High 3-1 (27-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21) in the Class 4A state championship at Irmo High School.
“What an honor to be able to play. We want to thank the South Carolina High School league for allowing us to play, to give us that opportunity to show them that we can be safe and play the sport without worrying about COVID,” coach Garret Talarczyk said. “And, you know, all through the season, we played with our masks on up until these last two games. It’s hard to breathe with these things when you’re running around, but we just wanted to stay safe as a team and prove to the community in the state that we can play volleyball.”
Just a few years after reclassifying from 3A, the Seahawks rolled through their 2020 season, finishing 18-2 and 12-0 in their region. It was the program’s second state title and first since moving to 4A.
On Thursday, they overwhelmed Pickens with their aggressive offense, led by junior Ady O’Grady, who put up 28 kills and 13 digs. Going up 2-0 in a pair of back-and-forth sets to start, Hilton Head dropped the third but bounced back strong in the fourth, going up 21-11.
Pickens rallied, however, ripping off a seven-point run to make things interesting and force Talarczyk to call a pair of timeouts.
“I think we have a pretty powerful offense. We just weren’t getting the ball down, and they’re doing a great job of picking it up,” Talarczyk said. “I knew it was just gonna break eventually. We just had to slow down.”
Having twice rallied from early deficits already these playoffs, Hilton Head never lost its composure.
“We’re a very mentally tough team. This whole season we’ve lost a set, been down, and from day one, Coach T has stressed mental toughness,” O’Grady said of the team’s mindset during those timeouts. “We’re really good at overcoming obstacles, and that’s what I think got us here, is being mentally strong.”
And after that second timeout, the Seahawks regrouped for the win, with O’Grady getting the final kill to send the squad’s six seniors off on a high note.
“I mean from day one, once they gave us the OK (to play), our focus was getting here and winning it,” Talarczyk said. “So, yeah, this is what they wanted and they got it. You know, they fought hard for it.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 9:52 PM.
