Saturday was a marathon for the Apalachee High School volleyball team.
After five matches, 13 games and seven and a half hours, the Lady Wildcats emerged as the Region 8-AAAA runner up. All in all, quite an accomplishment for the team and program, led by coach Joey Alfonso.
“The day started off rough because our bus was late and we were late getting there (to Habersham Central),” Alfonso said. “We were dragging and it took us some time to get going.”
AHS opened Saturday against Rockdale County in a winner’s bracket game. The Lady Wildcats had defeated Heritage two days earlier 25-18, 25-11.
“The match started at 10 and Rockdale County had been there since 8:30,” Alfonso said. “They had been warming up for 45 minutes by the time we got there.”
Rockdale County took a 25-18, 25-18 win but the two teams would be destined to meet again.
AHS then had to defeat Loganville to stay alive. The Lady Wildcats had defeated the Lady Red Devils three times in 2011 but Alfonso noted each time the outcome would get closer.
“We lost the first game because I still don’t think we were awake yet,” the coach said. “Loganville had learned what we were about. We had to rally in the second game and were almost eliminated. We eventually gained some confidence and were able to advance.”
The victory against Loganville assured AHS of a spot in the upcoming state tournament, which begins Thursday.
A rematch with Heritage followed with the Lady Wildcats taking a 32-30 and 25-18 victory. Then it was on to a match with Clarke Central.
“They hate playing us because the last two years we have had the upper hand,” Alfonso said.
AHS once again took care of business and won 25-15, 25-21. The Lady Wildcats led 14-5 at one point in the second game and Alfonso used the opportunity to rest his starters.
That set up a region championship match against Rockdale County.
The final match was a best of five format. Rockdale County took the first game 25-23 although Alfonso said AHS “should have won it.” The Lady Wildcats had 11 unforced errors. The coach said fatigue was becoming a factor at this point.
AHS won the second game 25-20 despite having eight unforced errors. However, standout Ryan Burke suffered a foot injury and was not able to continue playing. Her loss gave Rockdale County a big advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs took the third game 25-21 and then took region with a 25-17 win in the fourth game.
“We just weren’t able to cover any more,” Alfonso said. “By this time it was 5:45 when we walked off the court.”
Still, earning a trip to the state tournament as a host team is something the coach is proud of. The Lady Wildcats host Starr’s Mill Thursday at 6 p.m.
“We are excited to be playing well,” Alfonso said. “We were upset that Ryan was out but one of our goals has been to make it back to state. We felt we could have won region. The day started off not so well but we battled and ended up in the final. I’ve been around athletics a long time and it was something to see the way we battled. We had our backs against the wall all day long.”
To show the type of impact Burke has for AHS, the junior had 68 kills, 13 blocks and was 85-of-91 on serves during the team’s 20 region matches during the regular season.
In the region tournament, Burke had 61 kills and 13 blocks. She was named first team All-Tournament. Her status for the first round of state was doubtful going into this week.
Teammate Sherry Phomally, also a junior, earned second team status.
Phomally had 39 kills during regular season region contests but recorded 46 in the tournament.
Freshman Lauren Macdowell has 128 assists in 15 region tournament games after recording 90 during the regular season region matchups.
Alfonso said he could not be any prouder of what his team accomplished at region.
“During play Saturday we went seven and a half hours with our longest break being 16 minutes,” the coach said. “We are in great shape but the mental aspect was tough, especially after losing one of our better players.”
The opening round of state will begin Thursday with AHS playing at home. Alfonso said Starr’s Mill competes in Region 5-AAAA, which has several teams ranked in the top 10.
“Sometimes that can be misleading but we know we will have a tough opponent to start state with,” the coach said.
