Seton Catholic State Champions

Chandler, AZ – The Seton Catholic Sentinel’s varsity girls volleyball team took home first place in the 4A D-II State Volleyball Championship on Monday against the Amphitheater Panthers with a final score of 3-1.

After losing the first game 19-25, the Sentinels came back to win the following three (25-18, 25-18, 25-23).

“I didn’t know if we could [come back] against [the Panthers],” said James Felton, the Sentinel’s head coach. “I was just hoping we could get any momentum we had to take it in the second game and I think we did that.”

Seton Catholic prevailed against the number one seed, the Panthers, as the number two seed in its district with a total of 16 wins during their season and one loss.

“We had some key blocks and some really good plays by our middles and outsides,” Felton said.

A 6’3″ freshman on varsity, Haley Lawless, who played as an outside hitter, was a huge asset to the team’s victory with numerous kills and blocks throughout the game.

“We’ve been talking to Haley a lot about the fact that she needs to just get up and crush the ball,” Felton said. “She tries to place it sometimes and she doesn’t necessarily work hard in transitions.”

“She’s 6’3″ and she can hit over most blocks and so, it wasn’t anything I did,” Felton said. “I think she just [blocked it] one time and said ‘Hey, that felt good’ and did it again and again.”

In 2007, Seton Catholic was the State Runners-Up in the 4A D-II State Volleyball Championship and in 2006 they were the 3A State Volleyball Champions.

“It feel amazing [to be state champions],” said Lawless, who struggled to find the right words to describe it. “It’s really exciting that we overcame that first game which we lost. [The Panther] are a great team so it feels really good to win.”

“We wanted to win it for the seniors because it’s their last year,” said Lawless, one of three freshmen playing on the varsity team.

Lawless said she plans to continue playing over the next three years of high school and hopes to help bring home a state championship every year.

Guest article contributed by Emily Chicoine
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

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