By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
BIRMINGHAM – The Cherokee County Lady Warrior volleyball seniors were built for a state championship moment.
It all started back in 2021, their eighth grade year. Head coach Tiffany Rieger pulled up middle blocker Raegan Garmany, libero Ellisan Givens, setter Macy Lea, and hitter Nevaeh Gaidurgis to the varsity level to help build for the future.
“We had several starters that went down with various season-ending injuries and one with an illness that season,” Rieger said. “They just kind of got thrust into that environment.”
As expected, the Lady Warriors struggled that season. They posted just nine wins that year, but through the course of the past four years, those seniors grew, matured, and overcame adversity on the volleyball court.
“It was a very hard season, only winning nine matches, but I really feel like the tide changed in the area tournament that year,” Rieger said. “We took White Plains to five sets and came so close to making it to regionals that year. I think that little taste of almost making it, almost where they wanted to be, that would’ve been over the moon for them that year to make it to Huntsville.
“A lot of kids would’ve been ‘We’re not any good. We just won nine matches.’ But they didn’t. That group took that and let that fuel their fire to want to become more successful.”
On Thursday afternoon at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, the Lady Warrior seniors’ volleyball careers came to a close, but it ended in fitting fashion.
Cherokee County outlasted defending Class 4A state champion Prattville Christian in five sets 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-9 to win the school’s first state volleyball championship.
It was also Rieger’s first state title. She came oh-so-close herself during her senior year at Cherokee County under coach Jon Moseley back in 1999. The Lady Warriors finished that year as a state runner-up with a 66-7 record.
When an emotional Rieger was called up to accept the state championship trophy on Thursday, she brought it back to her seniors. She huddled with them for a few moments before they celebrated with the rest of their teammates.
“I told them how I had been chasing this trophy for over 20 years, since I was their age. I finally got it. Thank you for doing this,” Rieger said. “I’ve been wanting a state championship for my school, for my alma mater. I have a couple of state championships from college, but it’s not the same. That was the goal that kind of eluded me. It was just a beautiful moment.”
A moment that, Rieger said, “couldn’t have happened to a greater group of kids.”
“As good as we were, I don’t think we would’ve made it that far without the leadership of those seniors,” she said. “They go hard in everything, between summer workouts, camps and travel ball, and the skills they gain from playing other sports, it’s just all come together. Now they’re walking away with (51 wins), nine losses and a blue map – how much full circle can you get?”
The Lady Warrior seniors’ circle is now complete, but Rieger is hoping their championship blueprint legacy will begin anew in 2026 with those players who are returning.
“Ava (Haygood) and Jolie (Alexander) are really dead set on ‘We want to do this again,’” Rieger said. “But you don’t replace those four (seniors). You just hope the legacy they leave behind is strong enough to trickle down to those younger players, the ones who got to play with them and see how they worked and what they did day in and day out, their attitude and their effort.
“I think these underclassmen here who have been with us on this ride definitely have that. Is it going to be a hard road? Yes, but we have the talent to do it. Hopefully now we have that taste of victory that makes them want to push even further.”
