by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
“Don’t let up one minute,” Dale coach Mike Walker shouted to his team late in Saturday’s match.
His team was in the middle of a 13-1 run, ready to complete the match. One would think Walker would have been relaxing, planning how to celebrate the win.
“24-11. That’s the only time you will ever see me relax,” quipped Walker. “That’s just not the way I am.”
Walker’s relaxed now, as his Knights didn’t then and haven’t all season, completing an undefeated season and a state Group AAA boys volleyball title in impressive fashion, downing powerful Frank Cox 3-0 at VCU’s Siegel Center.
It’s the first state volleyball crown for the Knights, and they claimed the hardware in a dominating performance, arguably the best match that Dale has put up all season.
That’s saying a lot since the team started the season with 68 straight game wins, and only dropped three in their 26-0 campaign.
The match started off resembling an all-time state final epic, as Cox (24-3) and Dale went back and forth with the Falcons claiming a 21-19 lead.
In classic Dale fashion, the Knights went on a 6-1 run to end the game, turning the epic into a short film.
“I didn’t really think we were panicking,” Walker said of the taut first game. “We settled down like we’ve done all year.”
In the second game, Dale went down 10-6 and Walker called timeout. He didn’t say much, like he usually does.
“It’s just calming down,” Walker said. “It’s so hard to get a teenager to do that.”
His Knights did and blitzed the Falcons with a 15-5 run, taking a stranglehold of the match and Cox’s enthusiasm. TD won that game at a comfortable 25-19, then destroyed Cox 25-12 in the final game.
The Knights started the third game on the aforementioned 13-1 run when each of the Knights’ talent was displayed.
Unsung Austin Thompson (six aces, five blocks) had two aces on his blistering serve. Alex Hoffman (eight kills, eight blocks) put in two kills and a block.
Michael Blankenbecler (17 assists, seven kills), Bradley Johnston (nine kills, 15 assists), David Cole (nine kills) and Steven McGraw (seven blocks) had distributed the scoring chores pretty evenly, as scoring came from every nook and cranny of Dale’s side of the Siegel Center floor.
To make matters worse for Cox, they gave Dale two points for being out of alignment.
“I think we had an off day to say the least,” Cox coach Jason Zuidema said. “They brought our their true colors and we didn’t. I thought we had the first game. I think that just started their momentum from then on.”
Really, Dale’s momentum started on the first day of August practice playing against former Dale stars, like Justin Blankenbecler, Michael’s older brother, Brandon Joyner, Chris Hulbert and the like. They were all there for support, faces painted maroon and gray waiting to celebrate what they helped the Knights believe was achievable.
“This is probably my most successful senior class,” Walker said. “They’ve been great. Words can’t describe it. This championship belongs to everybody. We got there in 2005 and the kids believe they belong.”
Naysayers didn’t think Dale belonged among the region elite, much less the state’s best, though Dale has claimed a ridiculous 13 straight Central District titles.
“That bugs me,” Walker said. “A lot of people don’t think we play volleyball in Chester. I told our younger kids that we’re not a one-and-done team.”
Blankenbecler, Thompson, McGraw, Cole, and libero Shane Pratt are done. Some kid named Johnston will still be around, though.
So Monday should be a pretty easy day at school until the expectations start building, right Bradley?
“Everyday is an easy day at school for me.”
And an easy day for his team between the lines.
Frank Cox 22 19 12
Thomas Dale 25 25 25
Records: Frank Cox (24-3); Thomas Dale (26-0)
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