‘Play angry’: PV back in finals

Lady Raiders return to county volleyball finals after dispatching Alexandria, earn luxury of watching other semifinal unfold

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE — The irony wasn’t lost on anyone wearing the blue and white of Pleasant Valley volleyball Saturday.

A year ago, the Lady Raiders were duking it out with Jacksonville for a spot in the Calhoun County Volleyball Tournament championship match and Oxford was lounging on the neighboring court watching it all unfold and awaiting the winner.

This time they were the team sitting on the side watching and waiting to learn if it would be Oxford or Jacksonville they would play in Monday night’s tournament title match at Jacksonville State.

“Oh, I remember that,” senior Taylor Williams said. “It feels really great to be able to sit back and watch Oxford and Jacksonville play each other and not have to worry about being in the last round getting to know if we we’re going to be in the championship or not.”

“That was pretty ironic; even my dad said we get to watch this year,” senior Cammy Cochran said. “The team that was watching last year, they were the team that won. I think since we got to watch, maybe we’ll win this year.”

The top-seeded Lady Raiders, embracing a new “Play Angry” approach brought about by Thursday’s regular-season loss to Oxford, punched their ticket back to the county final with a 3-1 victory over fourth-seeded Alexandria (25-21, 25-8, 21-25 and 26-24).

They won’t get a rematch in the final, though, as Jacksonville took out Oxford in that other semifinal 3-1, to get back to the final they seemingly had permanent residence in (25-9, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21). The Lady Eagles played in the previous 10 tournament finals before missing last year.

In playing Jacksonville in the final, though, the Lady Raiders (32-3) get a chance at redemption of another kind. They can make up for a balky performance in a tight two-set loss to the Lady Eagles on Tuesday.

“It’ll be nice to get another chance to come back and play a better game against them,” PV coach Dana Bryant said.

To do that, they’ll look to “play angry” and not an uptight as they were in last year’s final they lost to Oxford in five sets. The seed was planted after Tuesday night’s loss, but really took root after their loss to Oxford.

“When (Bryant) asks us to play angry, she wants us not necessarily to play like we’re mad, but with a vengeance; play hard like we mean it,” Cochran said. “When we play like we want to, that’s when we play with a vengeance. We want to be that on Monday. Holding back isn’t playing angry; it’s being timid.”

The Lady Raiders (32-3) took out Saks in straight sets after drawing the first-round bye, but their hitters weren’t, as Bryant said, “hitting on all cylinders.” Against the Valley Cubs, they were.

Cochran had 21 kills and a .409 hitting percentage. Anna Bryant had 14 kills, a .636 hitting percentage and 12 assists. Alisa St. John had 16 kills and a .441 hitting percentage. All three served at 93 percent or better and combined for 52 digs and 10 blocks.

The way their semifinal match ended with the winning point hitting into the net it reminded Cochran of the way the Lady Raiders beat Alexandria in the 2012 junior high tournament title match when she was an eighth grader. Same player, same circumstance, same ending.

“It was so funny,” she said. “When that happened I didn’t even cheer. I went right up to Anna (Bryant) and was like ‘she hit it into the net again.’ That was ironic.”

PLEASANT VALLEY STATS VS. ALEXANDRIA (3-1)

KILLS (59): Cammy Cochran 21, Anna Bryant 14, Alisa St. John 16, Blakely Malsy 4, Mikayla Kendrick 3, Savannah Williams 1.

ASSISTS (33): Anna Bryant 12, Savannah Williams 19, Madison Bentley 2.

ACES (7): Cammy Cochran 2, Anna Bryant 2, Alisa St. John 2, Madison Bentley 1.

DIGS (69): Cammy Cochran 14, Anna Bryant 17, Alisa St. John 21, Blakely Malsy 5, Mikayla Kendrick 3, Savannah Williams 10, Madison Bentley 11, Taylor Williams 8.

BLOCKS (24): Cammy Cochran 3, Anna Bryant 2, Alisa St. John 5, Blakely Malsy 6, Mikayla Kendrick 7, Savannah Williams 1.

PLEASANT VALLEY TOURNAMENT STATISTICS (2-0)
(Defeated Saks, Alexandria)

KILLS (102): Cammy Cochran 25, Anna Bryant 26, Alisa St. John 30, Blakely Malsy 11, Mikayla Kendrick 8, Savannah Williams 2.

ASSISTS (70): Anna Bryant 29, Savannah Williams 38, Madison Bentley 3.

ACES (16): Cammy Cochran 5, Anna Bryant 3, Alisa St. John 2, Blakely Malsy 1, Madison Bentley 3.

DIGS (135): Cammy Cochran 23, Anna Bryant 25, Alisa St. John 29, Blakely Malsy 7, Mikayla Kendrick 4, Savannah Williams 18, Madison Bentley 19, Taylor Williams 12.

BLOCKS (37): Cammy Cochran 5, Anna Bryant 5, Alisa St. John 6, Blakely Malsy 8, Mikayla Kendrick 12, Savannah Williams 1.

CALHOUN COUNTY VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
First round
No. 8 Saks def. No. 9 Weaver, 3-1 (25-12, 25-14, 18-25, 25-16)
No. 5 Donoho def. No. 12 Piedmont, 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-18)
No. 4 Alexandria def. Nov. 13 Ohatchee, 3-0 (25-5, 25-16, 25-12)
No. 3 Jacksonville def. No. 14 JCA, 3-0 (25-3, 25-9, 25-5)
No. 6 Faith Christian def. No. 11 Wellborn, 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-19)
No. 7 White Plains def. No. 10 Sacred Heart, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-10)
No. 2 Oxford def. No. 15 Anniston, 3-0 (25-5, 25-5, 25-10)

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Pleasant Valley def. Saks, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 26-24)
Alexandria def. Donoho, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 29-27)
Jacksonville def. Faith Christian, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-21)
Oxford def. White Plains, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12)

Semifinals
Pleasant Valley def. Alexandria, 3-1 (25-21, 25-8, 21-25, 26-24)
Jacksonville def. Oxford, 3-1 (25-9, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21)

Championship Match
Monday, 6 p.m.
Pete Mathews Coliseum, Jacksonville
No. 1 Pleasant Valley (32-3) vs. No. 3 Jacksonville (29-8)

CALHOUN COUNTY VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS
(Since 2000)
2000 — Jacksonville def. Pleasant Valley, 15-12, 15-9
2001 — Alexandria def. Pleasant Valley, 15-10, 4-15, 15-11
2002 — Saks def. Donoho, 7-15, 17-15, 15-8
2003 — Pleasant Valley def. Alexandria, 19-25, 25-16, 15-13
2004 — Oxford def. Saks, 24-26, 25-12, 25-22
2005 — Jacksonville def. Oxford, 25-23, 25-15
2006 — Jacksonville def. Alexandria, 25-20, 26-24, 22-25, 25-16
2007 — Oxford def. Jacksonville, 15-25, 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 15-11
2008 — Jacksonville def. Oxford, 25-8, 25-18, 25-21
2009 — Jacksonville def. Ohatchee, 25-21, 25-14, 25-21
2010 — Jacksonville def. Oxford, 26-24, 25-10, 25-21
2011 — Jacksonville def. Alexandria, 25-20, 25-17, 25-12
2012 — Donoho def. Jacksonville, 25-22, 25-14, 25-10
2013 — Jacksonville def. Donoho, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24
2014 — Jacksonville def. Oxford, 25-19, 25-20, 25-24
2015 — Oxford def. Pleasant Valley, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11
2016 — Pleasant Valley vs. Jacksonville

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