Frizzelle Will Cap Stellar Career At State Championship Game

FORT DEFIANCE – Fort Defiance senior Maecy Frizzelle has received just about every postseason honor a high school athlete could possibly hope for.

She’s been district player of the year, region player of the year, first-team all-state.

Yet when watching her play, you not only see an athlete performing at a high level, but you also see someone who is having a ton of fun, maybe too much fun, in some people’s eyes. 

Regardless of the score, it’s common to see Frizzelle and her teammates laughing, dancing and having a good time on the court. 

Unfocused, or just loose and relaxed? The answer can be found in the team’s win-loss record. It would be tough to go 26-0 without a laser-focused mentality.

“I feel like that’s one of the things I brought to the team,” Frizzelle said of the team’s on-court demeanor. “I am not that serious of a person. I’m serious about certain things, but nothing is ever that deep. Seeing an athlete performing at a high level who is also a hot mess, you don’t see that a lot,” Frizzelle said.

“When I was younger it came off that I was unfocused and that was hard on me mentally that people were thinking that I was not focused. But as I got older and I was performing people were like, oh, she actually is focused, that’s just the way she plays.”

The Fort senior and her teammates know when it’s time to lock in on the court.

“There is a line if we get too goofy,” said Frizzelle, “but one of my favorite impacts on the program is making sure it’s fun. That’s just who I am. And, it’s something God gave us to bring us joy and we’re not going to take the joy out of the sport.”

Frizzelle’s impact on the Indians program is so much more than kills, digs and service aces.

“Maecy is obviously a great player but she’s such a good person,” said head coach Amber Pitsenbarger. “She’s a great teammate. She’s there for her teammates no matter what. She cheers for everyone; she is such a selfless player. Maecy is used to being in the spotlight, but she loves it when her teammates get the chance to shine. Yeah, she’s goofy but she also holds people accountable. She’s one of our leaders for sure.”

Since defeating Clarke this past Tuesday, Frizzelle admits waiting for Saturday to arrive has been hard. “You get used to playing on Tuesday and Thursday and this week you have to wait all week to play again,” Frizzelle said before Thursday’s practice. “You get a little bit anxious. I haven’t been sleeping as well because I just keep waiting for it. For me, today feels like it should be game day. It’s just a weird feeling.”

After falling in the state title game a year ago, Frizzelle is proud that the team is making a return trip to Salem.

“Since the start of the season, it’s always been a goal of ours,” Frizzelle said. “We wanted to get back to states, we wanted to win the region, we wanted to do everything. Nothing feels better than meeting your goals. We have part of it down, but as a team we realize the job is not finished. Right now, we feel a little bit incomplete. We’re going to keep pushing ourselves in practice so we meet one more goal.”

The realization that Saturday will be her final game in an Indians’ uniform has been emotional for the Fort senior.

“It’s weird to know this will be my last game,” said Frizzelle. “Playing my last game in here, on my homecourt, on Tuesday was sad. It’s sad, knowing tomorrow (Friday) is going to be my last practice.

“I’ve been a part of the program for so long, I’ve experienced the end of the year stuff, but I’ve never experienced my last year – my last game. Watching others experience their last game has been really hard. Now it’s my turn. I just have to suck it up and do it.”

The undefeated Indians will meet a formidable foe in the title game. Radford has just one loss and that came a long time ago. The Bobcats lost their only match on August 28 to Giles – a team that will be playing earlier on Saturday at the Salem Civic Center in the Class 1 championship game.

If the postseason so far is any indication, Radford can expect to see the best version of Maecy Frizzelle. She’s taken her game to another level on the Road to Salem.

In the Region 3C semifinals she dominated with 29 kills in the win over Madison. She added 14 kills in the regional title game against Clarke County and 14 more in the state quarterfinals vs. Amelia. In a return match with Clarke in the state semis, with a return trip to Salem on the line, Frizzelle and her teammates dominated the Eagles in the three sets as Frizzelle pounded 20 kills with a gaudy .600 hitting percentage. That’s an average of 6.4 kills per set in the postseason.

“Everyone we play knows Maecy is our go-to player,” said Pitsenbarger. “Maecy wants the ball and when she’s on the front row we’re going to go to her as much as we can.”