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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – The Coosa Valley Rebels are once again on top of AISA Class A after completing a phenomenal postseason run.

Coosa Valley swept the South Choctaw Academy Rebels 3-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex to claim the AISA Class A state championship, their second straight after winning in 2023.

After the Rebels also earned 3-0 sweeps of Trinity Christian and North River Christian in the quarterfinals and semifinals on Monday, Oct. 21, they completed the postseason without dropping a single set, winning 18 straight from the first round to the finals.

In the championship match against South Choctaw, Coosa Valley found itself in a tight battle in the first set and only slightly trailed 9-8. That close nature of the match continued even as Coosa Valley went in front, holding just a 15-14 lead before going up 20-18.

However, South Choctaw went on a 3-1 run to tie up the set at 21-21. The teams traded the next two points to keep the set hanging in the balance, but Coosa Valley persevered and won the final three points to take the first set 25-22.

The teams remained closely matched in the start of the second set, but a 6-6 tie gave way to a Coosa Valley lead after the team went on a 6-1 run to go up 12-7.

From there, Coosa Valley kept South Choctaw at an arm’s length for the rest of the set and went on to win 25-19, putting itself one set win away from another state title.

South Choctaw did not make it easy in the third set as it controlled the early stretch of the set. It went up 9-4 over Coosa Valley before increasing that lead to 16-9 off back-to-back points.

Coosa Valley chipped into the deficit by making the score 18-14, and that was when everything started to shift in its favor.

Coosa Valley won four of the next five points to take a 20-19 lead and kept the run going from there, ending the match on an 11-2 run.

That took Coosa Valley from seven points down to a 25-20 third-set win, sealing the sweep and the school’s second-straight state championship.

Before the title game, the Rebels started their journey with an Elite Eight matchup against the Trinity Christian Eagles out of Opelika.

After the teams were close in the opening points of the first set, Coosa Valley pulled away from a 7-5 lead and surrendered just four points during the rest of the frame. The Rebels went up 25-9 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Then, in the second set, Coosa Valley got off to a more dominant start and used that to cruise. After starting the set up 11-4, the Rebels closed out the 25-17 victory to go up 2-0 over Trinity.

Coosa Valley got out in front once again to start the third set with a 10-7 lead, but that proved to be short-lived as the Eagles claimed an 11-10 lead with a 4-0 run. The Rebels responded well with a 6-0 run to go up 16-11, and they held that lead the rest of the way.

Coosa Valley’s 25-17 win over Trinity Christian punched its ticket to the Final Four.

That semifinal matchup started shortly after the quarterfinals ended and pitted the Rebels against the North River Christian Chargers with a spot in the title game on the line.

Coosa Valley met early resistance from North River as the Chargers went up 9-6. The Rebels tied up the set at 12-12 and emerged with the lead, going on to take the set 25-18.

Then, Coosa Valley carried that momentum into the second set with a 5-0 run, but this time, North River tied up the set at 14-14.

The Rebels pulled away down the stretch to claim a 25-19 win, giving them a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair once again, with Coosa Valley taking a 7-2 lead to start before the Chargers used a big run to take a 12-10 lead.

The teams traded leads throughout the middle part of the set before the Rebels tied up the third set at 21-21. An evenly contested stretch left them tied at 24-24, extending the set.

Coosa Valley stood tall and won the next two points to claim a 26-24 win and take the sweep, advancing to the state title game where they would win the championship once again.

This is the second state title in Sydni Brown’s three years as a varsity head coach, and the Rebels have not finished worse than runner-up during her tenure. She also won the 2016 state championship as a player for Coosa Valley.

Kadence Fields, Michelle Alverson and Aleah Pickett were named to the Class A All-Tournament Team alongside South Choctaw’s Dixie Perry and Reagan Phillips and Abbeville Christian’s Amari George.