By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – On February 9, 1895, William G. Morgan invented the sport of volleyball. It seems only fitting that on Feb. 9, 2026, on the 131st anniversary of the sport, the Cherokee County Lady Warriors received their Class 4A state championship rings.
The Lady Warriors won their first volleyball state title back on Oct. 30 at Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena. They outlasted defending 4A state champion Prattville Christian in five sets, capping an impressive 51-9 season. The scores were 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-9.
On Monday, just prior to the Lady Warrior basketball team’s Class 4A, Area 12 championship game against Alexandria, the school held a ring ceremony for the volleyball team which concluded with the Lady Warriors seeing their state championship rings for the very first time.
Head coach Tiffany Rieger said Lady Warrior seniors Nevaeh Gaidurgis, Macy Lea, Ellisan Givens, and Raegan Garmany had their hands in designing the rings. Judging by the players’ reactions, they did a nice job.
“It looked so good on the picture, but when I saw them in person, I was like ‘These are literally perfect,’” said Gaidurgis, the 4A state tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “They’re big.”
“These are pretty, pretty good,” Givens said. “Just having these to remind us of that season and that (state championship) game and the people, it’s just awesome.”
Rieger said the moment the Lady Warriors opened their rings and put them on their fingers was “a dream come true.”
“We’re just so grateful to our community for pitching in with fundraisers and donations to make this a reality for our girls,” she said. “It was very special for the seniors to get to design them. Each piece of them (the rings) means something to us. It’s just an honor. I’m thankful for this bunch. It’s such a blessing to share this memory with them.”
Rieger said a ring designer from Balfour showed up with samples the week after the Lady Warriors won their state title. She said the girls had an idea in their heads of what they wanted.
“We just kind of kept playing with it and tweaking it. He drew it out. They sent me a graphic design of it, and I let the seniors look at it. We really made only one or two small changes to the original design. We love how they came out.”
There just might be another ring in the Lady Warriors’ near future, as many of the volleyball team members also play basketball.
Following Monday’s ring ceremony, the Lady Warriors won their 22nd consecutive game by dominating the Lady Valley Cubs 68-30. The victory secured the Lady Warriors’ fourth consecutive area title. They will host either North Jackson or Plainview in sub-regional play on Friday at 6 p.m.
“A lot of our parents were like ‘No, we don’t want y’all to get your rings against them (Alexandria). That’s going to light a fire under them.’ I told my mom ‘No, that’s going to light a fire under us,’” said Givens, who collected 11 points, five steals, four rebounds, three assists, and a block. “That’s what we wanted. Our goal is to get back to that blue map. We’ve got a taste of it now and we want to do the same exact thing in basketball.”
“(Volleyball) season was great. We got a ring and everything, but it’s basketball season now, and it’s time to do the same thing in basketball,” said Gaidurgis, the area basketball tournament’s Most Valuable Player after posting 18 points and 17 rebounds in Monday’s game. “I feel like we’re peaking at the right time.”
