Back to Back: Brandon tops Germantown 3-1 to capture second-straight MHSAA 6A Volleyball Championship

Bulldog senior Sunni Sheppard picked up MVP honors, as the Bulldogs won their fourth championship in six seasons

Author:
Tyler Cleveland, SBLive
Publish date:
Oct 20, 2022 11:14 PM EDT

STARKVILLE — Brandon senior Sunni Sheppard couldn’t have scripted Thursday’s MHSAA Class 6A State Championship any better.

Sheppard, one of a handful of Brandon players who have been with the program since the seventh grade, celebrated her fourth state championship and second in a row after defeating Germantown 3-1 after a dramatic fourth set.

“This means a lot,” Sheppard said. “Blood, sweat and tears have gone into this program. But we wouldn’t be able to do it without everyone. All glory to Him.”

Sheppard took home MVP honors, but not before one heckuva fight with the Mavs.

Despite three regular-season wins over Germantown, nothing came easy for the Bulldogs in the fourth meeting.

The Bulldogs (42-7) pulled out the first set 25-18, but they had to fight tooth and nail for everything after that.

The Mavericks (24-11) rallied back in the second set, finishing on a 13-8 run to take it 25-22 and even the match at 1-1.

“You gotta give Germantown credit,” Brandon coach Kelsa Walker said. “(Germantown coach Rita Sharpe) made a lot of tough decisions and adjustments to find the right rotations, and she did.”

The Bulldogs stayed one step ahead of the Mavericks in the third set, and won 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead.

The fourth set was an absolute war. After falling behind 10-5, Brandon rallied to tie the set at 11-11, and neither team led by more than two points until Germantown took a 24-21 lead.

That’s when Walker took a timeout.

“I just told the girls that we may not win every battle,” she said. “But we were going to win the war. I think that helped relieve some of the pressure, because I think we were pressing. I told them we don’t always have to sweep, sweep, sweep.”

The Championship was the fourth for Walker, who also coached the Bulldogs to championships in 2017, 2018 and 2021. The Bulldogs also played for the title in 2020.

“What’s special about this team is we have so many weapons in so many different areas of the court,” Walker said. “You can stop one of ours, and we have two or three more options back there we can turn to. So its really hard to stop what we do because these girls work so well together.”

Photos by Austin Frayser