Roncalli’s second straight championship season is a journey of heart and healing

The players, coaches and managers of the volleyball team of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis celebrate winning the Class 3A Indiana state championship on Nov. 8 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

In the tense moments before the state championship match on Nov. 8, the players, managers and coaches of the volleyball team of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis came together in the locker room, held hands and prayed.

Then they focused their eyes on head coach Christina Erazmus who wanted to share one more message with them.

“This season, we’ve had a lot of broken hearts,” Erazmus recalls telling the team. “We’ve had a major injury. We’ve had people not getting the playing time they want. We’ve had position changes. But together we’ve healed each other’s hearts. And we didn’t do all that work, and we haven’t gone through all these bumps and bruises to just let this one slide. So just go out there and play your hearts out. And get this last one to really solidify being champions.”

Moments later, the team ran onto the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis where they received a raucous welcome from the Roncalli faithful who packed the stands. And the volume of that support turned thunderous when the Royals won the Class 3A Indiana state championship for the second year in a row, with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-19) sweep of the team from Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne.

“People dream of just going to the state championship. And then doing it twice is just a dream come true,” Erazmus says. “You’re just so grateful for the kids and the families we have, and the time and the effort that they’ve put in. It really is wild.”

At the same time, this championship also needs to be remembered for its emotion-filled journey that matched the head coach’s expectations for Roncalli’s volleyball program, an expectation she sums up by saying, “We value other people’s hearts just as much as our own.”

It was a journey that began in heartbreak before the season even started.

An emotional ride

Shock and sadness swept through the program when the team’s star senior setter Addie Haberthy suffered a season-ending ACL injury before the first game.

A period of doubt followed when the coaching staff tried everything to find Haberthy’s replacement.

Then doubt turned to hope when freshman defensive specialist Norah Bell emerged as the starting setter and began to click with the team’s hitters.

And Erazmus experienced a feeling of joy and pride in seeing the way Haberthy encouraged and coached Bell from the sidelines.

“While Addie’s heart was broken, it probably mended her heart a little bit to help Norah and watch her become a better setter for the team she really loved,” Erazmus says. “I’m sure it was tough to watch someone play the role you’re supposed to be playing. But she did it with grace and for the team.”

The head coach’s joy and pride also extended to the team’s seven other seniors: Lily Jones, Kaelin Quinlin, Addie Phillips, Faith Schoettle, Lydia Stahley, Grace Troxell and Reagan Turk.

“They were all so mature about their roles, and they were all such great friends and respectful of each other,” their head coach says. “Such a great group of girls.”

All those emotions and qualities led the team to the state championship match and a moment that would bring tears, hugs and cheers to the team and its fans.

The heart of a champion

As Roncalli kept moving forward through the state tournament, Erazmus kept hoping there would come a time when she could reward Haberthy for the difference she has made to the program for four years.

The head coach knew that the Indiana High School Athletic Association requires a player to have 10 practices before she can enter a match.

“I made sure she had the 10 practices,” Erazmus says. “I’d see her at practice doing setting and serving. I always had it in the back of mind, ‘Let’s get these practices in,’ just in case she would be able to serve. I really didn’t tell her that because I didn’t want her to get her hopes up, because I didn’t know how she would progress.

“As the state tournament went on and she was practicing and we made it to state, I said, ‘I really think you should wear your uniform and be dressed for the state game because I want to get you in if we are able to.’ She was so excited about that.”

The moment came in the third game of the championship match with Roncalli leading 24-19. Erazmus inserted Haberthy and backup setter and fellow senior Addie Phillips into the game. Haberthy made a clean serve, and Phillips made a beautiful set which led to the championship-clinching point.

“That was really cool,” Erazmus says. “I was just so grateful that we could make this one thing happen to maybe heal her heart just a little bit. For her to be on the court when we were celebrating and hugging each other, it was special.”

So was the moment after the match when Reagan Turk was recognized with the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance Mental Attitude Award.

Back in the locker room, Erazmus told the team how “incredibly proud” she was of them for “sticking through it all and playing for each other.”

Looking back on this second consecutive championship run, the word “heart” filters through many of the head coach’s memories—broken hearts, healed hearts. Now, she and so many people connected to Roncalli will remember this team as having the heart of a champion.

“I’ll remember the resilience of the players and the coaching staff—and what we had to go through to get to where we wanted,” Erazmus says. “It shows me that if you work hard enough and you believe and you all work together, something special can come out of it.” †