Fyffe defeated Goshen in straight sets in the AHSAA Class 2A State Volleyball Tournament in Birmingham on Wednesday morning 18-25, 14-25, 16-25.

“I am very proud of this team,” said Eagles head coach Amy Warrick. “Fyffe was better than us. We came out strong, but Fyffe is a really good team. We came out and played with them and then we made some mistakes. That is a place where you can’t make mistakes.”

The Red Devils took advantage of their speed on defense and the play of their middle hitter.

“She is a great hitter,” Warrick said. “They are really fast on defense too and have great coverage. They have a fast group of girls and they are just a really good team. You don’t mind losing to someone better than you and they were a better team than us.”

Kelsey Gibson finished the match with eight kills, two blocks and five digs. Jada Hall had five kills, two blocks, three digs and one ace. Selena Elilis had one kill, three digs, 11 assists and one ace. Kate Warrick had five digs and nine assists, while Hannah Calhoun had one ace, 13 digs and one kill.

The Eagles finished the season with a 22-22 overall record (including post season play) and finished the regular season and area tournament with an 8-0 record.

The Eagles entered the season not sure if they were experienced enough to get back to the state tournament, but after a lot of hard work the players surprised even the coach.

“It was work and this is a great group of girls,” Warrick said. “When they get together they have a lot of fun. We have been going since July 1 just trying to get their game going. We played so many games and we had to teach so many fundamentals.”

Warrick believes the foundation has been set for another deep playoff run next year.

“I hope they can just retain all this knowledge and we can start the way we left off this year,” Warrick said. “We could have a chance to be a pretty solid team next year.”