By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
FAIR GROVE – To fully understand the path that led the Fair Grove volleyball team to the district championship on Tuesday night, one must first look back to the start of the season.
This was the team, players long believed, that would finally end the school’s nine-year district title drought. But when the Eagles stepped onto the court for their season-opening tournament in Branson, they won just one of their five games – falling well short of their high expectations.
“We just did not start very well,” coach Tonya Peck said. “That’s hard to do – to start your whole entire season at a long, tough tournament. We had some tough competition, but they played flat all day long and I lit into them after our semifinal loss. I just told them we’ve set too many goals this summer. We’ve worked way too hard – way too hard – to just throw the season away.”
Peck concluded her message with an ultimatum – if the Eagles truly wanted to have the kind of season they claimed to desire, they needed to come to practice that Monday “ready to go.”
They sure did – and they haven’t stopped since.
Fair Grove extended its unbeaten streak to an incredible 29 games with a 3-1 victory over El Dorado Springs in the Class 2 District 12 championship match, clinching the program’s first district title since it finished fourth in the state in 2013.
The Eagles (29-1-4) are 28-0-1 following the Branson tournament, and have lost just 11 sets in the process. Their lone tie came in a different tournament against District 11 champion Diamond (23-9-4), who the Eagles will host in a 6:30 p.m. sectional on Thursday evening.
The Eagles tied the Wildcats in pool play, but rebounded to beat them later in the afternoon. The third match will determine which team advances to the state quarterfinals, where the victor will face Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty or Strafford for a berth in the Final Four.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
Returning to the state tournament is the latest accomplishment in what has been a dramatic ascension for Fair Grove, which won just 21 of its 63 games over the past two seasons.
But many of this year’s key contributors saw significant varsity playing time during those seasons, gaining priceless experience that has fueled the team’s dominant 2022 campaign.
“We have been working for this for so long,” Fair Grove senior Kameron Green said. “Last year, we had so many new freshmen come in. Last year was like a rebuilding year, but everyone just got the experience they needed. We were able to come out this year and really show some people what we could do. We were just waiting for this moment to come out and show everyone that we could win this.”
The Eagles made the most of the opportunity, knocking off El Dorado Springs (27-9-1) in one of the state’s marquee district championship matches – at any classification.
Of the state’s 64 district championship games, only five involved teams that had each won at least 27 matches. Three of them were at the Class 5 level, while another was between Class 3 schools.
“This group is beyond special – and it’s not just because they play so well,” Peck said. “They are athletes, but they play so well together. They have been with each other for years. These girls have grown up together playing basketball since they could walk. Playing volleyball, they’ve been in the gym for hours and hours and hours. They’re some of our best students. They’re our leaders in the school. They are great, great kids.”
And they are – rather notably – kids.
Green, a four-year starter, is the lone senior on the roster, with the rest of Fair Grove’s lineup consisting of sophomores and juniors who have been assembled into one of the region’s most well-balanced teams. Fair Grove boasts three players with more than 200 kills, four with more than 35 aces, five with more than 200 digs and three with more than 350 receptions.
Their setters are balanced too, with junior Hannah Maxwell and sophomore Brooke Daniels each racking up at least 490 assists in an offense with no apparent weak spot in its rotation.
“They’re just solid all the way around,” El Dorado Springs coach Ashley Rogers said. “Tonya does a great job drilling those fundamentals. They were a great passing team. They hit well and it was across the board. They don’t have one or two girls that really dominate for them. It’s all six girls that are on the court – and the ones that come off the bench as well. They’re just super solid.”
Fair Grove trailed by four points in the opening set before rallying for a 25-19 victory, then led the second 24-21 before El Dorado Springs overcame three separate set points for a 27-25 win.
Led by senior Macie Mays, who collected her 1,000th career kill during the match, El Dorado Springs briefly carried that momentum into a back-and-forth third set.
Neither side led it by more than two points, until Fair Grove closed on an 11-2 run for a commanding 25-17 win. The Eagles also fought back from a four-point deficit in the fourth set for a 25-21 victory, touching off a celebration nine years in the making.
“It’s been a drought for a little while,” Peck said. “I told the girls out there that for the past few years, Fair Grove volleyball has been playing not to lose. Tonight, we played to win. There’s a huge difference in that – any coach will tell you that – but when you have a team that plays to win, they’re hard to stop. Even when they get down, they’re not going to give up. And this group has not given up all season.”
Peck’s timely pep talk had something to do with that, as it set the tone for the rest of the year.
“She knew that this was our season that we were going to go far,” Daniels said. “And if we wanted to do that, we would have to work hard and get over that one loss (and three ties) that we had and start working for everything. So, at practice, we just went all out every single practice and did our best. If she didn’t like something, she would tell us and we would get after it harder.”
Because they did, the Eagles now possess a long-coveted district championship plaque.
“It’s the best feeling,” Green said. “Four years in the waiting for me, and I know these girls wanted it so much. Everyone played so hard and it was an amazing feeling to hold it.”
