YORKTOWN, VA (WTKR)- Not that long ago, York girls volleyball and winning did not go hand in hand. Prior to the 2021 season, the Falcons endured 14 consecutive losing seasons.
"I feel like we just lacked the mentality and the confidence that we could actually win games," senior outside hitter Kendall Abercrombie said.
"We really weren't taking practices super seriously," senior setter Morgan Hunter added.
"There were having maybe two win, four win seasons," head coach Jonathan Amaral noted.
Those days appear gone for the program as the Falcons are now flying high. Amaral is in his second season at York and has revamped the culture.
"First thing I wanted to do was try to change to work ethic and show them that hard work can be fun," the head coach said. "There was a lot of talent on this team. We just had to get it to mesh together."
"We went from a team that won two games in the regular season to now," Hunter said. "We've won almost all our games."
"What was really important is we all came together agreed that we needed to focus up and really just push hard," added Abercrombie.
It's all been working. York enters Friday with a 26-4 record on the season and coming off the program's first ever region title win last week. Tuesday night saw the Falcons defeat Warren County in the state semifinals, punching their ticket to the state championship match for the first time in school history.
"It was kind of surreal," Hunter said of the semifinal victory. "It's the first time this has ever happened in York history and we had fans travel so far. Honestly, I really don't think we would've been able to do it without them."
"It just didn't feel real," smiled Abercrombie. "To have all of our student section come down from the stands, they traveled four hours to come watch us, which is insane."
The Falcons have one final trail to blaze and this one would not just be for them, but for all of York County. No school in the county has ever claimed a state volleyball title, which they can change come Saturday.
"That's the end goal," said Abercrombie. "It just feels like we're so close and if we could just finish it off, that would be so awesome. I'd love that for our team."
"It would just feel awesome," Hunter echoed. "We've worked so hard to get this far and it feels great."
"It's been probably the most magical of my coaching career," Amaral said. "I'm so excited for the girls and I'm hoping we can bring home a trophy this year."
York faces Hidden Valley for the Class 3 state championship on Saturday at noon in Salem.
If you have a nominee for Esprit Decor Student-Athlete of the Week, send an email to marc.davis@wtkr.com.
