MUNCIE, Ind – Even before Yorktown volleyball fell to Fort Wayne Carroll 3-0 in the IHSAA 4A State Championship game Saturday evening, head coach Stephanie Bloom was already emotional when the Tigers arrived for warm-ups.
Most of the faces she saw throughout Worthen Arena were ones who showed support when senior Charlotte Vinson was undergoing a medical event last summer.
“I was emotional just seeing our crowd and thinking how many of these people were the ones that showed up when Charlotte was in the hospital,” she said. “We were asking for prayers and they were coming to prayer vigils and coming to parking lots.”
The Tigers’ seven seniors embraced each other after the loss, knowing the great season that ended with a 33-3 record was officially over, as well as their high school volleyball careers. To Bloom, the run from where the team started and finished is something that can’t be described.
“We started the year in May standing in a parking lot, praying for Charlotte's life,” Bloom said. “She's here with us, and that's really what matters most. We're not defined by a red medal. I want them to know their worth, and what an impact that Charlotte’s had on an entire volleyball community.
“We wish we could have ended the storybook ending, but that's not how that always goes.”
Vinson – who is the Tigers’ all-time kills leader and an Indiana University commit – viewed the loss as a tough result. But she also credited the program as something like this would have affected her differently in the past.
“Volleyball is not who I am, but what I do,” Vinson said. “And I just think that's something I've learned, especially from Yorktown volleyball… Now I know it doesn't define me. It's just a sport that I play.”
But it wasn’t just Vinson who helped the team reach the title game for the first time since 2022. It was the entire group of upperclassmen. Senior Addi Applegate – a Texas A&M commit – looked back at her time with the Tigers and could only use one word: amazing.
“I couldn't have asked for a better four years,” she said. “The coaches are special and they care about you not only as athletes, but as people too.”
The final match of the Tigers’ season started with a back-and-forth first set (26-24), and that trend continued throughout the entire match (25-22, 25-22). The Tigers knew they struggled at times, but also credited the way Carroll held them down.
“They are a great defensive team and I think that's something that kind of startled us,” Applegate said. “We had trouble going through that in the match.”
With so many seniors graduating, Bloom believes younger Tigers will have to step up going forward. Though that could be a challenge, she said that this senior group did their job and showed the next group how to do the job. She even thinks she saw that tonight from her underclassmen.
“I think we saw that leadership throughout the season, which was great,” Bloom said. “It's a great experience for some sophomores and freshmen on the floor.”
But in the end, the players who will move on from the program are the ones Bloom will not forget. She was emotional after the match and her seniors followed suit. They knew how much Yorktown volleyball meant to everyone who was a part of the program.
To Vinson, she saw it even more as she realized the community is what makes Yorktown volleyball what it is.
“I just think that it really shows their character and how much support I actually have,” Vinson said. "I just think they support me and support this team.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on X @ZachCarter85.
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