Birmingham, AL – A season that started slow ends with county and regional titles, state runner-up finish for Alexandria.
By Joe Medley
Alexandria has played in three state finals and two other semifinals on Whitney Welch’s watch as the school’s head volleyball coach.
The Valley Cubs’ 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 19-25 loss to Prattville Christian in Wednesday’s Class 4A state final in Bill Harris Arena won’t put another “ball on the wall” in Larry R, Ginn Gymnasium, but not all getting-there stories are created equal.
This deep trip into the championship chase took some doing.
“From where we started to where we finished was night and day,” Welch said.
The Valley Cubs finished 43-14 in a season that included Calhoun County and North Regional championships.
They did it minus five seniors that got them within a five-set semifinal loss to Arab of playing in last year’s Class 5A state final, and graduates included two-time Class 4A-6A Calhoun County player of the year Kailey Dickerson.
Led by hitter Eryn Spradley, setter Sophie Martin and libero Charlee Parris, Alexandria had the makings of another good team. But state-finals good?
“I didn’t think when we started we would get to this point, ever,” Spradley said. “We were struggling day in, day out.”
What the Valley Cubs proved, again, was they have a program capable of going deep most years. Going all the way, like they did in 2017, gets trickier.
The stat sheet from Wednesday’s state final showed four close sets and nearly mirror statistics, top to bottom. It was closer than the final 3-1 margin suggests.
Prattville Christian had 54 kills in 146 attacks, Alexandria 50 in 148. PCA had 50 assists, Alexandria 46. PCA had 63 digs, Alexandria 60.
Down 21-12 in the final set, Alexandria rallied within 21-18.
PCA just found a way to be on top in three out of four sets.
“Set one, we pulled it out,” Welch said. “We had opportunities in set two and three to take the sets, and we just couldn’t figure out a way to put them away there. … We just missed our opportunities.
“Our serve-receive wasn’t as good as it can be. Everything was falling behind the attack line, and that can set you back in some ways. Even still, we had opportunities in those first two sets.”
Spradley finished with 21 kills and made the all-tournament team, along with Parris and Kaden Pritchett. Parris had 17 digs, and Pritchett added 10 kills.
PCA’s Emma Cate Carter hit a match-high 24 kills and finished as MVP. Teammates Baylee Rogers and Maren Dienfenderfer also made the all-tournament team.
“It’s really tough, but I couldn’t be more proud,” Welch said.
