October 29, 2021
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Lady Falcons get the last word, smack down Bayshore Christian in straight sets to win Class 1A state volleyball title; Draper named MVP
BIRMINGHAM – The Donoho volleyball team had the perfect opportunity to gloat, but they choose not to in the interest of decorum and sportsmanship.
Instead, the Lady Falcons just had to be content with winning the state volleyball championship over a team that got them in the finals a year ago and disparaged them when it was over.
That certainly was satisfaction enough.
Donoho won its 12th Class 1A state volleyball title – and second in three years – Thursday when it beat Bayshore Christian 3-0 to avenge a loss in last year’s final. The Lady Falcons won by set scores of 26-24, 25-15, 25-17.
A year ago, Bayshore beat the Lady Falcons in this match 3-1 and in their post-game press conference the Lady Eagles made it known they weren’t worried about the match because they were more fundamentally sound than Donoho.
The Lady Falcons used that slap as motivation all year and let the Lady Eagles know what they thought about it by their play Thursday morning in the Bill Harris Arena.
“Last year they made some comments in this meeting that struck home to us saying how they were more fundamentally sound and they weren’t worried about us,” Donoho coach Jamie Clendenin said. “This summer we took it to heart.
“I drilled it in their heads, you didn’t win that obviously because we’re not fundamentally sound enough – at least that’s what they (Bayshore) think. So, I told them when you get in this game I want you to go out and prove how fundamentally sound you are and just get after it.
“I’ve sat at home for the last year thinking about the things I would have loved to have said but at the end of the day I want to keep my class and I want the girls to follow suit. Yeah, winning’s fun, but at the end of the day we’re sending them off to the real world and they have to be able to stay humble.”
The Lady Falcons (52-9) were the more fundamentally sound this time. Senior Maggie Wakefield called it “the most together our team has ever played throughout this entire season.”
Donoho had only 15 attack errors in the three-set match compared to the Lady Eagles’ 33. They had a .149 attack percentage, while Bayshore (24-25) came in with negative .021. At one point in the second set, the Lady Eagles’ attack percentage for the match was a minus-.049.
The Lady Falcons did not lose a set the entire state tournament, super regionals or Elite Eight and trailed only four times in the first two sets and even when they did fall behind, Clendenin said, “they didn’t let that affect their ability to play.”
The first set was tight with Bayshore rallying from deficits of 20-14 and 24-20 to tie it at 24 before the Lady Falcons won the final two points to take the advantage.
The Lady Falcons trailed in the second set 14-13, then won 12 of the final 13 points to take a 2-0 lead. The run started with a Lily Grace Draper kill, a return error and a block by Estella Connell.
“Early on that first set we got down and in the huddle we talked about don’t freak out,” Clendenin said. “When you’re playing a good team they’re going to earn their points. The most important thing to do is just relax and play and let what you’ve worked for all summer kind of take shape.”
“Going back to our very first championship, in 2019, we were down one set 24-19 and we all know what it’s like to fight back,” senior Maggie Wakefield said. “I think in that situation thanks to our experience we all sat together and said we’re going to take this one point at a time, we’re going to take it one play at a time and we’re going to fight back from it because we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”
The third set got a little interesting. Bayshore took an early 8-3 lead, but Donoho got it back to 14-14 again and then scored 11 of the last 14 points to seal it.
When it was over, the Lady Falcons stood on the floor and waved back at their opponents, a gesture geared more towards COVID-19 protocols, but you had to feel there might have been some unsaid satisfaction in it as well.
“Before this game and before the other games there were a lot of rumors going around,” Wakefield said. “There was a lot of smack being talked by the other team and stood here and said no, we’re going to be patient, we’re going to take our time and we’re just going to focus on that. And I think truly that is what we did today.
“We told the team going into today no harsh words should be said to anybody win, lose or draw because that’s who we are and we’re better than that. Talking only does so much and as the famous saying always goes, actions do speak louder than words. We’re going to be good sports.”
Draper was named tournament MVP. She had 12 kills and 14 digs in the championship match, and now has 125 kills in her last three years in the Elite Eight – with another year to play.
“She always find a way to be the hot hand when the big game’s on the line,” Clendenin said. “When she was an eighth-grader the very first year I told her if you aren’t able to put the ball away we’re not winning single match. I put the pressure on her early and I think she just ran with it.”
Draper was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Maggie Wakefield, Sam Wakefield and Connell. Maggie Wakefield had eight kills, 11 digs and two blocks. Sam Wakefield had 29 assists and 17 digs. Connell led what Clendenin called the team’s best blocking game ever with six solos, including the clinching block in Set 2.
Eight of the girls on the team have been to all three trips to the title match. The seniors on the squad have built a 160-60 record over the last four years.
CLASS 1A CHAMPIONSHIP
Donoho 3, Bayshore Christian 0
(26-24, 25-15, 25-17)
KILLS — Donoho: Sam Wakefield 1, Estella Connell 4, Lily Grace Draper 12, Mary Marshall Perry 3, Maggie Wakefield 8, Mercy Mangum 5. Bayshore Christian: Emma Long 1, Ashlyn Whiteside 12, Brooke Kearney 1, Molly Brown 4, Molly Parker 4, Brooke Raimo 1, Katelyn Moore 2, Ella Crooms 5.
ASSISTS — Donoho: Sam Wakefield 29, Lily Grace Draper 2, Naira Rehman 1. Bayshore Christian: Emma Long 1, Brooke Kearney 26, Brooke Raimo 1.
ACES — Donoho: Mary Marshall Perry 1. Bayshore Christian: Ashlyn Whiteside 2, Brooke Kearney 1, Katelyn Moore 1.
DIGS — Donoho: Sam Wakefield 17, Estella Connell 1, Lily Grace Draper 14, Mary Marshall Perry 2, Maggie Wakefield 11, Mercy Mangum 4, Hannah Sprayberry 2, Naira Rehman 18, Yana Osovska 1. Bayshore Christian: Emma Long 8, Ashlyn Whiteside 16, Brooke Kearney 4, Molly Brown 1, Noel Thies 11, Molly Parker 1, Brooke Raimo 23, Katelyn Moore 1, Ella Crooms 4.
BLOCKS — Donoho: Estella Connell 6, Maggie Wakefield 2.
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