Athens volleyball ready for state tourney

Published 4:30 am Wednesday, October 30, 2019

When April Marsh took over as Athens High School volleyball coach this summer, people around the program expected her to have success. After all, she was a state championship-winning coach at Bob Jones High School and had made the state tournament nine consecutive seasons.

However, not many people expected the success to come immediately. Athens advanced to the Class 6A State tournament by defeating Homewood and Oxford in the North Super Regional tourney, and will face Spanish Fort in the quarterfinals today. The state tournament is at the Birmingham CrossPlex today and Thursday.

Marsh said the success of the team has not been a surprise to her.

“To a lot of people on the outside, I think they are surprised and shocked, but day one when I came, these girls weren’t scared of hard work,” Marsh said. “And their attitudes are really good. A lot of times we might not outmatch anyone on paper, but I’ve witnessed firsthand what they can do.”

Athens made the regional tournament last season, but got put out in the first round by Albertville. Senior Elizabeth Elmore said Marsh came in and completely changed the way the team practiced and prepared.

“It was a tough (coaching) transition because it’s not like anything we had been used to before,” Elmore said. “The practices were a lot more grueling than we had been accustomed to. But we knew it would pay off and it did. That’s why winning against Oxford was so amazing, because we really saw how far we had come.”

Junior Elizabeth Waldrep said Marsh’s tough practices didn’t break the team down. They had just the opposite affect. They made them want to push themselves and work even harder.

“It is great to have a tough coach pushing you to excel,” Waldrep said. “It definitely made me want to push harder, and I think all of my teammates will agree. And as you can see, it’s paying off.”

Marsh said that attitude is what has elevated the Golden Eagles program to one that she believes can compete for state championships.

“We’ve talked a lot about the players doing their jobs and taking pride in their jobs,” Marsh said. “I can’t tell you how many days this season players are staying after practice to get better individually. They’re asking questions, they’re wanting to know drills they can do. That doesn’t happen everywhere. To see that and see the kids be hungry and willing lets you know you’ve got a good future ahead of you.”

Athens’ state tournament trip is a benchmark the team is setting that future teams should want to live up to, Marsh said.

“This was our goal from the beginning, and to see them accomplish that goal in year one makes me excited for them, because of what’s going to be in store in the future. It gives them just a little taste of what’s to come,” she said. “That’s what I told these girls at the beginning. You can be what gets Athens on the map and what gives girls the excitement for years to come knowing (the state tournament) is what our expectation is going to be, and know they are capable of that and can compete with anybody.”

Marsh was also appreciative of the support the Athens community has shown the team as they make their journey to the state tournament. She said someone reached out Tuesday to offer to feed the team before they traveled to Birmingham.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and I’ve never had anyone that wasn’t directly involved in the program reach out like that to feed the team without being asked,” Marsh said. “I told the girls yesterday that they are blessed to be in the community they are in. They probably don’t understand, because they’ve never been anywhere else, just how blessed they are to have the community support they have. It doesn’t happen everywhere, and it’s very nice to have.”

Waldrep said that community support is something she and her teammates don’t take for granted.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Waldrep said. “It’s just so wonderful to have a great community always supporting every sport. Just to know we always have a family-like community around us is just the best.”