Last year, the RM girls volleyball team entered the playoffs with hope. After winning the regional title for the first time in years, it finally looked like the stars were aligning for the Rockets to claim the state title. An emphatic win over Leonardtown in the 4A Championship confirmed that optimism.
Now exactly a year later, RM enters the state championship game yet again, but with something different this time: pressure. With a target on their back since the first game of the season, the pressure on this team has only been building throughout the season with every achievement.
Divisional title: got that. A win over Wootton: earned. Top Maryland public school ranking by the Washington Post: well deserved.
What’s on the line this time? Just the chance the win back-to-back state titles and end with a perfect record.
When the lights are the brightest, the leaders of a team must be the first ones to step up. Led by senior co-captains Corinne Howard and Ema Djordjevic, RM must be the first team tonight to put the high stakes of the game behind them if they want to succeed. Against Leonardtown, RM dominated the early points and won the elusive first set after jumping to a 12-3 lead. A repeated effort will prove valuable today.
While Djordjevic’s powerful kills and Howard’s timely blocks will be crucial against Broadneck, the supporting, yet just as skilled, cast of the Rockets must be on their game tonight. The biggest strength of this team over their last two seasons has been their depth of scoring on the floor. Between the high-flying and hard-hitting Mitchell sisters and all-around technical senior Amy Ye, the Rockets can put pressure on the Bruins to find a way to contain just one Rocket player.
However, in the state championship, nothing will come easy. Just a week ago against Churchill, RM dominated the first two sets of the state semi-finals, but faltered in the next two and found themselves in a fifth-set tiebreaker. But even down early in that set, the Rockets refocused and fought back for a nailbiting 15-12 set win. This same persistence and ability to put the past behind them can be what allows RM to immortalize themselves in state history tonight.
The game will be played at APG Federal Credit Union Arena at Harford Community College. The first serve will be at 6:30 pm.
