Iron Horses celebrate back-to-back volleyball titles
Coach Jay Watterworth used to circle the date of the state volleyball championship to motivate his Philip Simmons High School girls’ team.
Now, he and his players simply celebrate the date.
The Iron Horses topped Liberty High School 3-1 on Nov. 7 to capture their second consecutive Class AA state championship.
The Iron Horses finished with a 40-5 record and are 78-10 in the two seasons that ended with championship hardware. The 2026 season marked the fifth straight season with at least 30 victories.
“Winning a state title is special, and winning back-to-back is just as special,” Watterworth said. “We knew we had another good team, and we challenged ourselves by playing a hard non-region schedule, including four tough tournaments.
“This team loves to compete, and giving them every opportunity to do this at a high level was important to our success,” the coach continued. “I learned early on in the season that the best thing I could do on game days was to let them play and try not to get in their way.”
The Iron Horses breezed through the playoffs, posting 3-0 decisions against Saluda High School, Academic Magnet, and Bridges Prep.
The Iron Horses took a 2-0 lead in the championship match against Liberty, which was played at Dreher High School in Columbia, South Carolina. The Red Devils won the third set, but the Iron Horses were able to celebrate by claiming the fourth set, 25-19. Liberty finished with a 23-4 record.
McRae Stephenson had 14 kills, and Gabby Kakalev collected 12 in the victory. Catherine Futch had 25 digs, while Dani Gehringer had 23 digs and 48 assists.
Stephenson is now the Iron Horse career record holder with 856 kills. Futch owns the career records with 1,789 digs and 252 aces. Gehringer tops the assists career mark with 2,701.
Coach Watterworth said his players didn’t feel added pressure as defending champions.
“I said this before: I think the pressure of being the defending state champion was felt more by me as the coach than it was felt by my team,” he said. “They just love to play. All season, they would say, ‘Just get us to game time.’ They embraced the tough schedule and wanted every opportunity to prove themselves.”
Watterworth started playing soccer when he was four years old and continued until he graduated from college. It was in college where he “found” volleyball and fell in love with the sport.
He is passionate about the sport and his program.
“This team, especially the senior class, is truly special to me,” Watterworth said. “So many of them have been in our program for many years and will leave a legacy beyond the volleyball court. They have embraced our program culture and have left our program better than they found it.”
Watterworth completed his 10th year at the helm of the program. He’s savoring the moment.
“We will enjoy this moment for a while,” he said. “My assistant coaches and I have already had discussions about next season, but we will get the players back in the weightroom in January and begin to look forward to another run.”