Madison Volleyball Club 3-Peats 12-U Championship

MADISON- The winning keeps on a-comin’ for the Madison Volleyball Club 12-Under team.

For the third consecutive year, the 11-player squad has won the Southern Regional Volleyball Association (SRVA) Championships held at the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala. The squad was up against 31 teams in all and went undefeated through pool play and tournament play winning seven matches in the process.

“Our goal this season was to make the girls mentally stronger so they could perform under pressure,” said Tynesha Malone, 34, who, along with her sister Keyana Malone, 32, coach the team.

Under pressure couldn’t have been more evident than in the squad’s semi-final match versus C2 Attack out of Tennessee, which just happen to have three boys on the floor, one of which stood 5-foot-8. Madison jumped out to a 25-13 win in the first game, but stumbled in the second game allowing C2 Attack to win the game 11-25. In the third and deciding game, Madison rallied for a 15-13 victory advancing to the title match.

“The fight in our girls we saw in that match showed we prepared them as our girls were not intimidated nor did they back down even though the odds were against us,” said Malone.

In the championship match against Atlanta Extreme, Madison completely dominated play posting scores of 25-14 and 25-10 allowing the Madison squad to hoist its third title trophy in a row. One of the players on the squad, Meg Jarrett, has been on the team roster for all three championships. The three titles matches the Malone sisters’ accomplishments in high school as they, too, won three high school state titles while attending Muscle Shoals High as the school won state titles from 1998-2001.

“Our focus this year was centered on team chemistry and mental toughness,” added Malone. “We worked hard the entire season with our ultimate goal of winning the regionals again this year.”

For the girls who wear the team colors of blue-black-white, winning is contagious and the third time is a charm.