Midway High volleyball players past and present gave each other a battle in the All-American Alumni Game Tuesday, with the current team handing the alumni a 25-18 loss.
The game featured current Lady Raiders dressed in different shades of red, white and blue as a nod to America’s semiquincentennial. The event also saw the team collect nonperishable food items in an effort to contribute to the high school’s Backpack Buddy Program.
The varsity and junior varsity players teamed up to take on the alumni, jumping out to an early 2-1 lead before the alumni swung momentum back in their favor. Midway’s alumni built a 10-6 lead before the current Lady Raiders fought back into the game.
They went on a six-point unanswered run to take a 12-10 lead. The Lady Raiders maintained their advantage from there, with the alumni getting no closer than 22-14 before scoring four straight points to cut the deficit to four. The current squad answered with three more points to win the game, 25-18.
For some of the players on the alumni team, it was the first time they had returned to their former high school in years.
“I definitely felt a lot older being out here,” Chloe Baggett recalled. “But it was a little bittersweet; I haven’t been here in five years. It feels good being able to see some old friends and play with my cousin on the court, Emma Clark; it felt good. It was also a little nerve-racking because it’s been a while. I don’t do any of this now, but it was pretty good.”
Having the opportunity to play against the new generation of Lady Raiders, Baggett noticed the chemistry the current players displayed on the court.
“They’re definitely a great group of girls,” she explained. “You could tell that they have a good connection, which is what matters the most on the court. They’re able to trust each other, and they’re going to go a long way. I wish them all the luck in their season.”
For Emily Capps, the game was a blast from the past.
“It was really fun,” she reflected. “It makes me miss being in high school and being a kid again, playing for fun. It was really cool seeing the current players because I was once that rising ninth-grader, being able to do this. Now, I’m 10 years out and 14 years removed from being a freshman. The competition, you can definitely tell it’s advanced since I was in there. Shout out to travel ball; that’s been a big asset. For these girls to be able to be where they are just as freshmen, I can’t wait to see how Midway does.”
The current Lady Raiders’ roster has a mix of underclassmen and upperclassmen expected to contribute this season. Among them is freshman Reagan Jackson.
“I really just want to play my heart out and show what I can do, especially with being a freshman on varsity, because it’s a big thing,” Jackson expressed. “I just want to make myself proud and everybody else proud.”
One of the biggest adjustments she has noticed is the increase in competition.“It’s definitely a big jump,” she admitted. “Now having girls that are here to challenge me and make me better, that is definitely a great thing, and I’m just really excited.”
Someone who can relate to that jump is senior Abby Beasley, who moved up to varsity during her sophomore season. For her final year at Midway, she is looking forward to the last chapter.
“I’m really excited to get back into varsity to play with the same group of girls again,” Beasley shared. “I really enjoy the bond that we all have together, so I’m excited. Paul has really made it a fun start for us, getting us worked out and sharpening our physical attributes to get ready for the start of the season.”
Paul Hairfield is one of the new volleyball coaches at Midway.
Another senior, Cailyn Hewlett, had similar sentiments about the new coach.
“He’s been bringing a really good balance,” Hewlett explained. “We know when to lock in and ball out; we respect him a lot, but we also know when we can have fun and joke around. He does a really good job of bringing us together as a group. I think we’re really emphasizing us as a whole and as a team, which is something we appreciate. We as seniors are trying really hard to show senior leadership; we want it to be fun for the team, but we’re also aware that we have a reputation.”
For Hewlett, the road to her senior year has come with ups and downs as she worked to regain her love for the game.
“It’s a stressful sport,” she acknowledged. “A lot of us have played travel ball since we were 11 or 12, and we’ve played for a lot of years, so it does get stressful. We do feel a lot of pressure, and I think we handle it very well at times, but it’s just important to continue to check in on our teammates, and I think we all do a very good job of that. We make sure that everyone’s good, everyone’s OK, and making sure that everyone knows that it’s OK to have a bad day. There’s no problem with that; it’s sports and athletics. I think everyone has their own story, and it’s important to remember that it’s supposed to be a fun sport. This is what we all love and why we started playing it.”
Hairfield began coaching youth athletes while in high school, which ultimately led to him coaching volleyball for more than eight years.
“I love developing athletes,” Hairfield emphasized. “For me, I love seeing an athlete where they’re at currently and helping them push where they’re supposed to go and where I see that they can go. To just give them the ability to push off and push toward greater things than where they started.
“This group, they want to work. They want to have a purpose behind them and push toward winning. What I’ve learned, especially from the alumni and girls that are coming up from freshmen to seniors, they all love Midway, and they want what’s best for the program.”
Hairfield’s overall objective in his first year coaching the Lady Raiders is to pick up where they left off last year.
“We already have that winning culture; we’re used to it,” he noted. “We can get there, but it’s not just winning, but finishing. We’re going to go there, and we want to close.”
Seeing the seniors willing to take the lead, Hairfield believes they can be a strong source of not only accountability, but support.
“You want the standard to be the standard,” he explained. “No matter what grade or skill level you are, we maintain a standard no matter who’s on the court; our standard doesn’t change. From there, it’s allowing those senior leaders to step up, whether they’re struggling or whether they’re being successful; you have leaders that are there to hold you accountable.
“They see where the minimum is at and where our standards are at; we maintain that, and we push it to get better. Whenever we have bad days, we lift those players, and we stay there.”
The Lady Raiders’ first chance to show that standard will come on the road against South Johnston High School Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 5:45 p.m.