That set seems so bizarre now, the one Yorktown lost.

The Tigers had won 71 straight to start the 2018 volleyball season. They would win the next 27 to go undefeated and win the Class 4A state title. But in that moment, the New Castle Trojans took a 1-0 lead with a 25-22 advantage. It was Yorktown that was trailing. It was the star-studded group of girls that seemed destined to finish the year without a blemish on its record that now had to face reality. Yorktown wasn’t invincible.

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But coach Stephanie Bloom’s Tigers didn’t crumble. They won each of the next three sets, 25-17, 25-17, 25-17, and dispatched the next eight opponents they played to win the program’s fourth state title, second in three years and first at the 4A level. And it was that one lost set against New Castle that proved to Bloom her girls could do it.

“I knew already we’d had a great year up to that point and I knew already they were special but I think in that moment when I saw just mentally how they responded, physically how they responded, it was like, we didn’t miss a beat,” Bloom said. “That’s when I knew this was a pretty special group.”

Yorktown’s dominating run continued Sunday at the IndyStar Sports Awards with three wins. Kenzie Knuckles, now a freshman in college at Nebraska, started the night off for the Tigers with the Girls Volleyball Player of the Year award — a category teammate and Ohio State signee Kylie Murr was also nominated in. Yorktown then won the Team of the Year award. And Knuckles capped the evening with Girls Athlete of the Year award.

Bloom thought both Murr and Knuckles had a chance to bring home their sport-specific award. Murr recorded 24 aces and 565 digs this season for the 34-0 Tigers. Knuckles tallied 396 kills, 363 digs, 32 blocks and 30 aces.

“I’m just really happy to receive the award,” Knuckles said. “I’ve been at the sports awards since my freshman year, so finally winning it my senior year was just icing on the cake.”

Knuckles didn’t know whether she would win or not because she felt other nominees, such as Murr, Perry Meridian’s Caitie Baird (Stanford), Castle’s Jessica Nunge (Florida State) and Avon’s Ava Torrance (Purdue) all had great years, too. Everyone seemed deserving.

And grabbing the Girls Athlete of the Year trophy, too? Undoubtedly surprising. No matter how much her teammates hyped her up.

“I really wasn’t expecting to get this award at all,” Knuckles said. “The other girls were breaking school records and just doing amazing things.”

The MaxPreps National Volleyball Player of the Year earned the nod over Noblesville track and field star Shelby Tyler, who’s won national titles and is on her way to compete at Georgia, and Hamilton Southeastern basketball player Sydney Parrish, a junior named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year who guided the Royals to the Class 4A state title and will play at Oregon when she heads to college. And the field the Tigers had to beat for Team of the Year was just as competitive.

Yorktown’s stellar season went toe-to-toe with Warren Central football’s undefeated run to a Class 6A title and Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball’s state championship. The Warriors had the star power of quarterback Jayden George, running back Romeir Elliott and wide receiver David Bell. The Royals had Parrish.

But the Tigers still won.

“I felt like we deserved it,” Bloom said. “I just didn’t know — all the other teams, I don’t know all the context and history of those teams — but I think going undefeated and only losing one set is pretty exceptional. Probably a once in a lifetime experience. And so, I think, I was hopeful that we would be chosen.”

It’s not a given that a team that works hard as Yorktown did experiences the benefits they sought right away. The Tigers have.

Knuckles points to the one set Yorktown lost against New Castle.

“It was a lot for us just because everyone was expecting us to win,” Knuckles said. “And we lost the very first set, too, so we were kind of just like, ‘Wow, can we do this?’ And I think it kind of was just a wakeup call for us to realize we can’t just kind of coast through things. We need to work hard and be steady. So I think when we persevered through that we can accomplish anything.”

Jordan Guskey covers East Central Indiana high schools at the Star Press. Contact him at (765) 213-5813, jmguskey@muncie.gannett.com or @JordanGuskey.