Coming Tuesday: Sand Rock Volleyball Preview

By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CENTRE – When Tiffany Rieger was hired as Cherokee County High School’s volleyball coach back in 2019, her goal was to get her alma mater back to where it was when former head coach Jon Moseley had it during his coaching career.

Last season, Rieger began to see dividends. She led the Lady Warriors to their first Class 4A state tournament appearance in 20 years, but neither Rieger nor her team is satisfied being one-and-done in Birmingham.

“One of the things we’ve talked about since spring is taking that experience and using it was motivation, but also knowing that it’s not a free ticket to get back,” Rieger said. “Use it to build your confidence that you deserve to be there, that you can play at that level, but it can’t be ‘We got there last year, so we’ll automatically get back there this year.’ That’s not how it works, especially since they’ve changed up our area. It’s going to be a bit more of a challenge this year.”

As Rieger said, the Lady Warriors shift over from Area 11 to Area 12 this season, which includes last year’s Class 5A state semifinalist Alexandria, along with Anniston, Hokes Bluff and White Plains.

“Our biggest challenge as far as area is going to be is height, especially with Alexandria. They’re a lot taller than we are, and we’re trying to find ways to overcome that,” Rieger said. “That’s why you see us push defense so much. If we can’t get up there and block them, then we’ve got to dig.”

The good thing for the Warriors is they return a boatload of experience from last year’s 34-18 squad, including three all-county selections in junior setter Macy Lea, junior middle/outside hitter Nevaeh Gaidurgis, and junior libero Ellisan Givens.

Lea is back on the court after accumulating 1,052 assists, 208 digs, 72 kills, 39 blocks and 38 aces. Gaidurgis returns after gaining 501 kills, 267 digs, 66 aces, 53 blocks and 29 assists last season. Givens is also back in the lineup after collecting 570 digs, 70 assists, 33 aces and 13 kills.

“Macy has improved a ton, even from what she was last year. She works hard, and she’s a leader,” Rieger said. “We’ve looked at a couple of different rotations (with Gaidurgis), some with her playing primarily outside and some with her playing primarily middle. We’re going to keep working those and see which one we think can get us the best shot in October. Ellisan has really come a long way as far as her floor defense, getting on the floor and getting balls up.”

Surrounding that trio of talent is senior Libby Curry and sophomore Ava Haygood. Both are outside hitters. Senior Lilly Shaw, juniors Raegan Garmany, Deannia Starr and Shamiya McElrath, and freshman Jolie Alexander give the Lady Warriors options in the middle or on the right side. Sophomores Leila Connell and Chloe Wood, and eighth grader Jesslyn Hincy are the team’s defensive specialists.

“We’re just trying to do a lot of combinations and see what works best on the floor, which group of six has the best team chemistry, that kind of thing. That’s what we’ve really been focusing on,” Rieger said.

“We really can’t use the young excuse anymore. A lot of our core players are at least juniors, but we still have some young ones who can take the floor at any moment.”

To help prepare the Lady Warriors for what they’re going to see on the court this season, Rieger said the team went to summer camp at UAB. They also went to Supreme Courts and worked with Munciana Volleyball Club, and they had play dates at Geraldine, Southside and Gadsden State.

“We’ve been in the gym a lot,” Rieger said.

The Lady Warriors will see if the work they did in the gym during the summer pays off beginning this week. Cherokee County opens the season on Thursday at home with a tri-match against perennial state tournament participant Donoho and last year’s Class 2A state runner-up Sand Rock.

“They’re ready to go,” Rieger said of the Lady Warriors. “The energy from the way the season ended last year has just carried over. They’re excited and I’m excited. We’ve got tons of potential, but potential doesn’t mean anything. You’ve got to do something with it. We’re ready to get the season started and see what we can do, and we’ll see how it goes.”