As the Alma volleyball coach for the past 34 years, Mike Smith thought he had just about seen it all.

But even he was surprised by his team's performance last week during two subdistrict matches and a district final. And as a result, his Cardinals will be heading to Lincoln this week for the state tournament.

Entering the postseason, Class C-2 Alma was 18-9 and facing an uphill battle in its attempt to reach state for the first time since 2002. Standing in the Cardinals' way were three ranked teams — Cambridge, Southwest and Shelton — and Alma managed to win all three matches.

Perhaps most surprising is that all three matches went the five-set limit, proving even more the grit Smith's team showed.

“We played 15 games of volleyball in a pretty short time,'' Smith said. “We're spent, but we'll be ready for state.''

Alma was just 12-9 before turning things around, winning its last six matches of the regular season. That gave the team some needed momentum against Cambridge, its first subdistrict foe last Monday.

The Cardinals won that match in five and advanced the next night to play Southwest in the subdistrict final. Smith's squad once again survived in five sets and moved on to play Shelton on Friday night in the C2-5 district final.

“By that time, we were really believing that we could get this done,'' Smith said. “But we still knew that we had to win to get to state.''

Alma responded once again to the challenge, outlasting the Bulldogs in five sets. In just a few days, the Cardinals bumped off the three teams that were rated fourth, seventh and eighth last week.

“To be honest, I didn't see this coming,'' Smith said. “But we've got a great group of girls this year and I think we're peaking at the right time.''

Smith said his team did some reassessing after stumbling to a 4-6 start.

“We talked about what we needed to do and made some adjustments in practice,'' he said. “Then we started playing better as the season went along.''

The Cardinals did improve and started to hit their stride late in the season, winning a pair of invitationals before the start of subdistricts.

“We've had good teams in the past that have come up short in the postseason for a number of reasons,'' Smith said. “We've been in tough districts or we peaked too early, but this year we managed to get the job done.''

Alma is rewarded for that strong performance by climbing into the C-2 ratings at No. 6 this week. The Cardinals are followed by the three teams they defeated to reach the state tournament.

Smith points to the fifth set in each of those three matches as the time when his team really stepped up.

“In each case, that fifth set was ours,'' he said. “We had more energy at the end and that allowed us to win those matches.''

The Cardinals are led by 5-foot-9 junior Lauren Waggoner, who has 331 kills this season. Senior Amanda Wells has 180 kills, senior Rachel Asche has 154 and senior setter Andrea Ehrke has dished out 614 assists.

“With six seniors back this year, I knew we had a lot of potential,'' Smith said. “That's why our early struggles were kind of puzzling, but we got things turned around.''

Alma will be making its fifth appearance at state when the three-day tournament begins Thursday. The underdog Cardinals are seeded eighth and will face top-seeded Sutton in a first-round match at Lincoln North Star.

“I don't know what's going to happen the rest of the way,'' Smith said, “but I'm very proud of my team for getting us to state this year.''

Ratings update: Omaha Marian remains atop the Nebraska Top 10 heading into state. The 39-1 Crusaders will open the tourney at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Pershing Center against North Platte.

Omaha Gross remains No. 1 in Class B, undefeated Grand Island Central Catholic is still atop C-1 and Chambers remains No. 1 in D-2. The new No. 1 squads this week are North Platte St. Patrick's in C-2 and Meridian in D-1.

So close: Each year, a number of quality teams come up just short in their quest to reach state. I watched one play Friday night when Omaha Mercy lost to Omaha Duchesne in the Class B-3 district final.

The Monarchs had defeated the Cardinals twice during the season, but it was Duchesne that came out on top when it really mattered. Mercy lost two close sets (26-24, 30-28) before losing the third 25-15.

After the match, the Mercy girls shook hands and then quickly headed for the locker room. There were undoubtedly tears as the Monarchs came up just short of the state tournament once again, losing in the district final for the fourth year in a row.

No, they won't be going to state. But to the seven seniors and the other members of the Mercy squad, congratulations on a winning season and good luck in the future.

Final statistics: Coaches of teams in Class A, Class B and the Omaha-area whose squads have completed their seasons are asked to submit their final statistics. They may be faxed (402) 444-1238 or e-mailed to mike.patterson@owh.com.

Final statistics for those teams (A, B, Omaha-area) that reached the state tournament are due Nov. 17. That's when All-Nebraska ballots are also due from all coaches, regardless of class.

Hail the libero: One final word about the All-Nebraska teams this season. They have been six-member squads in the past, but a libero will be added this year to bring the teams up to seven.

Now, on to the state tournament!

Contact the writer:

444-1350, mike.patterson@owh.com

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