BIRMINGHAM – When it comes to Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) volleyball, two Bama schools have dominated the court for more than a decade.
One is Bayside Academy out of Mobile. The Admirals have claimed 15 consecutive state championships, adding the latest on Thursday night in a sweep of Providence Christian in Class 3A.
The other is Addison High School. Right after Bayside prevailed in 3A, the Lady Bulldogs ran off with their fourth consecutive state championship, going a full five games in the 1A finals of a great matchup between the top-ranked Lady Bulldogs and second-ranked Decatur Heritage.
Addison now has nine state championships in its trophy case at the school located 25 miles west of Cullman on U.S. Highway 278.
Their run of success began in 2003 and hasn’t let up, with nine state titles and five other appearances that got them a runner-up berth.
Addison has six championships in Class 1A. Last year, the Lady Bulldogs went five games in the 2A title bout to edge Providence Christian.
Second-year coach Kayla Woodard chuckled about her team making it a habit of going for the grand prize and having to pull it out in the tiebreaking set. "That's not the fun part," she said.
Woodard's 2016 unit came in rather young with only two seniors- Maison Evans and Reagan Smothers, who now have four championships each.
A percentage of the team moved up from junior varsity and was able to maintain the winning formula, even though this squad lost 19 assignments in 62 matches.
But against Class 1A, Addison was 17-1, a typical pattern of playing the best when it counted in the later part of October.
Junior players such as Abbie Chambless, Allie Chambless, Cecilee Gaither, Makenzie Berry and Kendra Tyree displayed all-out efforts in the championship series, with the Chambless sisters being named to the All-Tournament team. Abbie Chambless was selected the most valuable player.
Savannah Manley, a 6-foot freshman, went to work against Decatur Heritage's All-Tournament performer Kayla Grimes and held her own against the experienced senior middle hitter.
Manley's championship numbers were 58 kill attacks, nine block attempts, four digs and three service aces.
"I was sitting in the stands last year watching them win the state title," Manley said. "I now got a chance to play in it and I can't describe it. It's a great feeling to be a part of something like this."
Decatur Heritage broke Addison’s momentum by winning the North Super Regional last weekend in Huntsville. They pushed the Lady Bulldogs to the limit with Woodard's squad down one set to none and trailing in the second game, 17-6.
Woodard got her team to calm down and get into a flow that was effective enough to take momentum away from the Lady Eagles and win the set by a comeback margin of 25-23.
Manley had the final three points on serve with the last two being aces as she found a seam in the Heritage defense between the front line and the back row.
Class 1A's championship was the fourth on Thursday of No. 1 meeting No. 2. The others were St. Luke's vs. Winston County in 2A, St. Paul's and Alexandria in 5A and Hazel Green vs. Spanish Fort for the 6A crown. All of those were sweeps by the eventual champions.
What the Lady Bulldogs did on Thursday inspired another Addison team on top of their game this fall. Several of the Bulldogs' football team members attended the game, including coach David Smothers.
Addison played at Winston County Friday evening, winning 57-28 and wrapping up a perfect 10-0 season- the fourth team to accomplish this task since 2005.
Football playoffs start next week, and Addison is very much expected to make a deep run in the 1A segment and hopefully play for the state title in early December at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium.
But for the moment, the talk of the town of Addison is volleyball. Woodard has been a part of 95 victories and two state titles in her time since taking over the program from Pam Wilkins, who led the Lady Bulldogs to 731 wins and 52 losses from 2003 until 2014.
Her teams averaged at least 55 victories per season and established a reputation of outstanding volleyball in the smallest two classifications of the AHSAA.
Plenty of experience returning in 2017 will inspire the Lady Bulldogs to three-peat under Woodard.
October is the time when the Lady Bulldogs shine, with nine state titles in a span of 14 years and four consecutive championship celebrations at the CrossPlex in Birmingham.
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