There were plenty of question marks going into the 2011 volleyball season for the Apalachee High School Lady Wildcats.
When all was said and done, AHS had finished second at the Region 8-AAAA tournament and returned to state for the second year in a row. For coach Joey Alfonso, it was simply another step down the road of building a successful program.
AHS fell in the opening round of state last week to Starr’s Mill 25-13, 25-19, 25-19, a victim of a bad draw as much as anything. Still, Alfonso knows the loss does not take away from what his team was able to accomplish in what was considered a rebuilding one in many ways.
“We didn’t have our best night,” the coach said of the state match. “You have to give Starr’s Mill credit. They are ranked No. 8 in the state for a reason. They had some good servers and they went on a couple of runs where we couldn’t get them off the line. We just couldn’t get them out of their rotation.”
Playing on the “big stage” of the state tournament may have also been a factor for his team, the coach said.
“It was our biggest crowd of the year,” Alfonso said. “It was also the best team we’ve played. I think nerves played a role. When we executed, passed and set it up, we were able to score points.”
The team received a boost when standout Ryan Burke was able to play despite being injured in the region championship match.
“She played with the heart of a warrior,” Alfonso said. “It was one of her shining moments.”
While AHS was a No. 2 seed for state, Starr’s Mill was probably the favorite going into the matchup. The Lady Panthers, a member of Region 5-AAAA, was ranked No. 8 in the state.
“All in all, we can’t complain,” Alfonso said. “We met of our goal of making it back to state. We just had to match up with a region that was very tough. It was a bad matchup for all the teams in our region.”
Even Rockdale County, the No. 1 seed from 8-AAAA, had to battle to the wire to advance against the No. 4 seed from 5-AAAA.
“The bottom line is they beat us,” Alfonso said. “Nerves certainly played a role with the big stage. Our girls really wanted to win and please all our fans and supporters. Many of our girls are young and didn’t have a great deal of game experience. We had a good season and we learned from it. You never want to lose, but we played with heart and character. We should benefit from it next year.”
