Parkview Baptist outlasts St. Michael to win Division III State Championship

by: Travis Connelley // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

LAFAYETTE — In a battle of two of Baton Rouge’s best, it was No. 3 Parkview Baptist that outlasted top-seeded St. Michael the Archangel 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17 in Saturday’s Division III State Championship match. 

“This is amazing,” Parkview head coach Allison Leake said. “For these girls, this has been their goal; we have always been short in the semifinals. From the end of last season in the locker room, their talk was, ‘this will not happen again. We will come back next year and there will be no tears, and if there are, they will be tears of joy.”

Early on, it was Jana Thymes and the Eagles who set the tone. The senior accounted for the first four Parkview points on three kills and a block assist. 

The strong start was the spark that Parkview needed as the Eagles maintained their lead for the remainder of the set, getting key plays from Thymes and Marin Price. 

In the second set, the Warriors found themselves down 2-0 but got into rhythm shortly afterward. St. Michael scored seven consecutive points, with the run highlighted by Skylar Towner, who had three of the seven points, all on kills. 

The roles were reversed in this set as the Warriors maintained their lead, fending off several attempts by the Eagles to get back in the contest. 

In the latter stages of the set, Parkview clawed its way back, scoring four consecutive with three coming from Thymes, to tie the score at 23. 

Despite the Eagles’ resurgence, the Warriors finished strong, scoring the last two points of the set with the final coming on a kill by Towner. 

The third set was mostly evenly matched through the early stages, with the largest lead being two at 9-7 in favor of the Eagles. The competitive play continued throughout the set with neither team taking more than a two-point advantage. In the end, Parkview got kills from Price and Thymes to claim the third frame. 

Reminiscent of the first set, Parkview got off to a strong start in the fourth, getting key kills from Thymes and Marin and a block from freshman Olivia Kohn. 

The momentum was short-lived as St. Michael showed why they were the top seed in the tournament, putting together a comeback to tie the set at 10. 

Parkview quickly regrouped and put together an 8-2 run as Thymes made her presence known once again with two blocks and a kill. 

The resurgence was just the momentum the Eagles needed as they scored seven of the final 11 points in the set to claim the win and the Division III Championship. 

Thymes was named Most Outstanding Player, and afterward, she said that she is very proud not only of the honor but helping lead her team to a state title in her senior year. 

“For me personally, this feels like a fulfilment of everything that I have worked for,” she said. “Knowing what I have and the talent that I have, why not use it, use that to win and play for everybody else. That is the feeling I felt today, to make sure and play for myself, but especially for everyone else. Most importantly, this is a team sport, probably the most important team sport there is, and that is what drives me.” 

Thymes led the Eagles with 25 kills and eight blocks. Price had 18 kills, and Aaydn Polk posted 48 assists. 

St. Michael head coach Latashia Wise-Jackson said after the match that she is very proud of her team’s effort this season. 

“I could not be more proud of the fight of this team in the entirety of this season. We are not going to let one match define our success because it is not measured by what happened over the past two seasons. This team is 39-3, that’s beyond successful to me.” 

Towner shone for the Warriors with 11 kills and five blocks. Bella Bravata tallied 18 kills, and Marielle Gary had 48 assists.