Mikah Freppon just took the head coaching job at Campbell County in mid-June fresh out of college.
But when it came to winning the 10th Region championship, she did not hesitate to answer when asked about the moment she felt it would happen.
“The moment I stepped in the gym,” Freppon said.
The Campbell County Camels proved her right, pulling off a thrilling 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13) win over the rival Scott Eagles in the 10th Region championship game on Thursday. The Camels avenged a loss to Scott exactly one week after losing the district championship at Bishop Brossart.
All four meetings between the two went the full length with the Camels winning three of them, winning their first region championship since 2019.
“I just knew they wanted it. They deserved it more than ever,” Freppon said. “Considering they’ve had four head coaches in the last four years, they were willing to fight through it. They come into every practice ready to win.”
Campbell County consistently fed its two solid senior middle blockers in Emma Manser and Lexi Scharold. Manser had 17 kills and Scharold had nine. Scharold, Manser and Ava Crowl had four solo blocks each as the Camels recorded 12 blocks and 33 kills.
“The moment (Freppon) started coaching us, we knew she meant business,” Manser said. “We took her serious and we knew she wanted what’s best for the team. Her energy that she brings to every game, every practice on the bench makes us better athletes.”
The Camels used that size advantage again with quick sets and cut down on the errors from a week ago. Sophomore setter Hope Hamilton had 28 of Campbell County’s 31 assists.
“Hope is a really good setter and she knows how to find us,” Manser said. “I think it really makes teams think a lot about it. If she doesn’t set us, she goes somewhere else. There will be a hole in the block and our outsides can just slam the ball down so I think it’s important for us to establish middle then catch teams off-guard defensively when we don’t set middle.”
But a number of players had big roles in the win for Campbell County (19-13). The Camels had 57 digs and six aces. Crowl led the way with 15 digs with Hamilton digging up 12. A’lon McIntyre and Ella Thorwarth dug up seven balls each. Crowl and McIntyre had two aces each.
“I think we all played our roles well. Although things got a little frantic in the second and third sets, we really wanted the win,” McIntyre said. “We knew we had to play our hearts out we did. We dug out of that hole and showed everyone how strong of a team we are.”
Scott (24-16) put up another fight with 54 kills, 44 digs, 44 assists, 16 blocks. The Eagles have just one senior in Brooke Balsley and she finished with nine kills, five solo and two assisted blocks.
“We wanted to make sure we controlled our minds and stay locked in,” said Andrea Sullivan, Scott head coach. “We knew it was going to be a tough one. But I’m just really proud of my girls. The way these young girls stepped up was awesome. It was fun to witness how they played for one another. I just really enjoyed coaching this group this year. They left it on the court and that’s all that I and all that they could ask for. We’re walking away with our heads held high and really proud of what we accomplished this year.”
The Eagles tried to counter the Camels size advantage with offensive balance. Milyn Minor had 21 kills with Morgan Justice adding nine. Ryann Grigsby had 40 assists with Payton Grigsby digging up 12 balls. Brooklyn Helm had 11 digs, six kills and five aces. Libero Elise Manhardt returned from an injury in the quarterfinals against Bourbon County recording five digs.
Campbell County plays host to Notre Dame (30-5) on Monday in the first round of the state tournament. Notre Dame took the first meeting between the two this season on Sept. 6, 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-11).