CARY, NC – Cardinal Gibbons cruised to their 11th volleyball state championship on Saturday, racing past Providence 3-0. The Crusaders captured the program’s first title since winning the 2015 4A Championship in a convincing three-set win over Northwest Guilford.
The offense was firing on all cylinders for Gibbons all afternoon. Emily Chrysogelos regularly powered the ball into the floor, earning 22 kills and racking up six digs in the match on her way to being named the 4A Championship Match M.V.P. Much of Chrysogelos’ success came off of feeds from Celia Ryan, who served up 38 assists in the match, masterfully orchestrating the Gibbons offense that killed 44 points by six different players.
The Crusaders took the opening set 25-18 behind seven kills from Chrysogelos. Providence battled in the opening frame, led by Gabby LaPata’s four kills. She finished with six in the match for the Panthers. The Crusaders had a little easier time in the second set, cruising to a 25-14 victory. Chrysogelos had nine kills in that frame, while Providence really struggled to mount any offensive momentum until a 5-0 run that trimmed the Gibbons lead to 23-13.
The final set was all Crusaders, as Chrysogelos added six more kills to her tally, and Anna Kate Young contributed four of her nine for the day. Gibbons scored eight of the last nine points in the final set to roll to a 25-13 victory, completing their unbeaten season.
The NCHSAA is committed to recognizing good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize one individual from each of the participating championship teams in volleyball with the 2020-2021 Sportsmanship Awards. The recipients for this year’s 4A awards were Audra Nelson from Providence and Celia Ryan from Cardinal Gibbons.
|
4A State Championship |
||||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||||
|
Cardinal Gibbons |
25 |
25 |
25 |
X |
X |
|||
|
Providence |
18 |
14 |
13 |
X |
X |
|||
