SALEM, Va. – The Auburn Eagles defeated the Riverheads Gladiators 3-0 to claim the program’s third consecutive VHSL Class 1 championship.
The scores were 25-8, 25-10 and 25-9. Not only is this the third consecutive title for the Eagles but it also bumps their state-record winning streak to an elusive 74 games. The program’s last loss came back in early 2019.
“I feel like we started this in February, we’ve been playing volleyball since Feburary and we took a three month break,” said Auburn head coach Sherry Millirons. “It’s a long haul, I told them that today, we finished 2021. And its been a good year for us, might have been the most successful years we’ve ever had.”
In Class 2, Glenvar defeated Central-Woodstock 3-0 to win its first state championship since 2006. Scores were 25-16, 25-20 and 25-14.
“I mean, we’ve all played volleyball for so long. S the freshman that got pulled up, the sophomores Natalie and Audrey, we have a huge class of juniors that has been playing together since 4th grade, obviously we have an awesome senior, it’s crazy to bring that all together,” said Highlanders junior Claire Griffith. “We’ve been dreaming about this since middle school volleyball about all playing together.”
In Class 3 action, Rustburg battled Tabb in search of back-to-back state championship gold. The Red Devils put up a very convincing effort from start to finish. They opened the first set with a 25-15 victory. That was followed by a 25-17 win in set two. Tabb showed grit winning set three, but Rustburg bounced back to win the match and it’s second consecutive Class 3 state title with a 3-1 win.