Heritage Christian wins state volleyball title a year after death of head coach

In the roller coaster of emotions the Heritage Christian volleyball team has been through over the past year and a half, the final piece fell into place Saturday: a Kansas Class 2A state championship, the first in school history.

Heritage’s head coach, Janice Van Gorp, passed away before last season, in August 2015. The death was unexpected – she was 46 – and wrenching for her players, most of whom had been under Van Gorp’s wing since they were children in her volleyball camps.

But the final ripple of Van Gorp’s legacy at Heritage Christian was winning a state championship. When she was at the helm, she had repeatedly told the team they were good enough to not only make it to state, but win it.

Last season, the loss of Van Gorp still fresh, Heritage did indeed make it to the Class 2A state championship game, but fell to Central Plains in three sets.

“She always told us ‘you’re going to get to state; you’re going to win state,’ ” said senior Joanna Finley. “We would do sprints at practice — we all hated them — but one thing she told me was it’s all going to be worth it when you feel that medal around your neck.

“And it’s true.”

That gratification finally came on Saturday, more than a year later, when Heritage once again made it to the state title game, once again against Central Plains. This time, though, the result was different. Heritage won (25-12, 25-15) in a match the team says was the best volleyball it’s ever played. When the team gathered for a photo with the trophy after the game, Van Gorp’s husband, Mark, and their two children, Rachel and Andrew, posed with the team.

Although it had been over a year since Heritage lost its head coach, the motivation of honoring Van Gorp with a state title never went away.

“Once we got to the championship game, I could just feel the whole team come together,” sophomore Faith Hammontree said. “This was for Janice. All of our energy went up, and we just knew we had to play for her.”

In the waning moments, during Heritage’s match point, the crowd started chanting “state for coach,” which had been the team’s slogan the past two seasons. Several on the team struggled to hold back tears before they won the final point.

“Just to win in that way, especially after last year — last year was so rough,” said junior Kate Allen. “It was so heartbreaking to lose after what happened and to be so close.”

Under first-year head coach Tom Slaughter, Heritage went 32-8 in the regular season before heading into the state tournament as the No. 6 seed.

“He came into a very difficult situation and the first thing he told us was he wanted to carry on that legacy,” said senior Eliza Rinck. “He’s building the program up like Janice did.”

After years of hearing how much Van Gorp believed in them, combined with Slaughter’s steady leadership, the team’s faith didn’t waver.

In the first home game of this season, the whole team wore shirts with “fearless” printed across the front — a testament to Van Gorp’s philosophy of leaving everything on the court and not being afraid of failure.

That legacy cemented itself on Saturday.

“I feel like the same motivation will carry us for years in the future,” sophomore Becca Davis said. “It all orbits around Janice.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Heritage Christian wins state volleyball title a year after death of head coach."