The state champion Nansemond-Suffolk Academy girls’ volleyball team received some due recognition when the 2014 all-state honors were announced recently.

Seniors Lizzy Fowler, Brooks Gillerlain and Caylin Harris earned first team honors, and coach Robyn Ross was named the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II Coach of the Year.

Ross, who is a first-time recipient of the honor, led the Lady Saints to a 21-9 record, their second consecutive state championship and their third consecutive appearance in the state title match.

“The best part of it, by far, is how excited the girls were, and all of their nice words after it was (announced),” Ross said of her award. “So, that’s what makes it special.”

She also highlighted her players for their responsiveness to her coaching.

“The biggest reward is that these girls believe what I say and that they work so hard for me,” she said.

Ross echoed previously expressed sentiments of her players in her comparison of this year’s state title run to last year’s run, which featured a more experienced team.

“It wasn’t nearly as easy as last year, but the girls would tell you, too, that that’s what makes this year so rewarding,” she said.

Ross also shared her gratitude for those close to her that have helped make her coaching tenure at NSA possible.

“My family sacrifices a lot to let me do what I love to do,” she said.

A committee of athletic directors, coaches and different representatives selected her and the players for state honors. Also drawing state recognition for the very first time was senior middle blocker Lizzy Fowler.

“She’s always been a good, steady middle, but this year she was a lot more dominating,” Ross said, adding Fowler was someone that other teams had to plan for.

She expanded her offensive abilities and registered 265 kills this season.

“She added a few different shots this year, and so nobody could just plan for her to have one single go-to hit,” Ross said.

Fowler also recorded a team-high 46 blocks.

“She blocked better this year than she has in years before also, and some of them were huge critical blocks, like in the second game of the state final where she blocked the other team to get us 27-25, to win that game,” Ross said.

Senior middle blocker Caylin Harris was a second team all-state honoree as a sophomore and has been on the first team ever since.

“Caylin has a really, really strong presence on the court,” Ross said, adding no one who has ever played the Lady Saints would leave the match and not remember her.

Despite missing nearly a month of play during the regular season due to mono, she still managed to finish the year leading the team in kills with 268.

“She did that by having an amazing conference tournament and state tournament,” Ross said.

Harris had 18 kills and 13 digs in the state title match.

Senior setter Brooks Gillerlain made the all-state first team for the second year in a row and distinguished herself as one of the top setters in the state of Virginia according to MaxPreps.com, a CBSSports.com site.

“She is the reason that our hitters can do what they did,” Ross said, later comparing her role to that of a quarterback in football. “And I can shout plays at her from the sideline, but she is ultimately making those decisions and putting the ball in the hands of the hitters and did an amazing job this year.”

Gillerlain finished the year with 923 assists, averaging 10.6 assists per set. She also was an outstanding server, leading NSA with 49 aces and co-leading the team with 152 serving points.