PELHAM, Ala. – Two freshmen, two sophomores, a junior and one senior may sound like a typical rebuilding year for most starting volleyball line ups, but at Bayside Academy, it's more like a refinishing year.

The Lady Admirals refinished the 2010 season with their ninth-straight state championship by defeating Winston County 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 15-25, 15-12 in the finals of the Class 3A Elite Eight state volleyball tournament at Pelham Oct. 28.

Bayside sophomore Gabby Deshotel was the state MVP and named to the all-tournament team along with fellow sophomore Virginia Pittman and freshman setter Sydney Chandler. The starting six were rounded out by freshman Jhalen Caffey, junior libero Victoria Smith and senior Maggie Niemeyer. Junior Mary Frazier Hutchison saw the most action off the bench along with junior Lockett Nelson. With the roster balanced by five freshmen: Abbey Giles, Brittany Houseman, Harper Morrison, Rebecca Todd and Lauren Tuemer, it was one of the youngest teams ever assembled by head coach Ann Schilling who captured her 16th state title with the 2010 crown.

The task of turning an eight-time defending state champion into next year's nine-time defenders may have been shared by all, but the pressure found a firm resting place on the shoulders of the one and only senior, Niemeyer, who was still confident the streak would continue.

"We knew it was ours," she said. "We wanted it. We wanted it really bad. I didn't want it to end, but I wanted it for them. I guess at times I felt like I had to lead them to it — to their first, second or third state championship. But it also seemed like I had seniors with me the whole time. We all had to lead at times and they all stepped up with me and I'm so proud of everybody and proud to be with them. I didn't feel lonely at all."

In the final Deshotel had 19 kills and 13 blocks. Pittman added 14 kills and five blocks, Chandler set for 42 assists, Smith had 46 digs, Niemeyer had eight kills, four blocks and 10 digs. Caffey made several dramatic saves in the back court and scored key kills while a block by Hutchison in the third game sparked a come-back rally for the Admirals.

Bayside had to come from behind in games one, three and five. But Schilling said game five is where her team has thrived. The Lady Admirals trailed early in the fifth but came back to tie it 11-11 before back-to-back blocks by Deshotel and Pittman and an error by the Yellow Jackets put Bayside in control.

"We only dropped one five-game thriller this year," Schilling said. "I think being in that position before really paid off. We feel like if we get in game five, we're fine. We battled yesterday through some tough situations but the fifth game is ours."

The Lady Admirals opened the tournament going five games with Plainview 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 15-7 and then held off Montgomery Academy in a long three-game set 25-21, 29-27, 27-25.

Schilling said that Niemeyer's leadership had been key all year, but was also proud of her younger players for accepting much of the burden as well.

"It's hard being the only one senior and we stressed that Maggie needed help and the kids responded. We talked about not being fearful of losing and they just stepped up. I'm so proud of these kids."

She added that the title match came down to a battle of wills at the net.

"Gabby played well. Did a great job at the net, Virginia got a lot of key blocks for us up front. Both of them did a good job of attacking the ball. When we do that, the confidence is there. We can rotate our defense over. My libero (Victoria Smith) did a great job and Sydney got some good balls (to set). She (Chandler) just does a real good job for us and handles the pressure well. Today, they all did. I'm just so proud. We're a little short on the sides and they went at us there, but we settled down and did a nice job and really played hard."

Deshotel admitted to being a little concerned by the fifth game. "I was a little nervous at the beginning," she said with a laugh. "But then we started getting some blocks and Virginia got some balls down. And when we do that, it's exciting and I guess that's when I started feeling better."

In the semifinals, Deshotel had 16 kills and 7 blocks, Pittman 10 kills, 5 blocks and 9 digs, and Chandler had 35 assists.

In the opener over Plainview, Pittman had 28 kills and Niemeyer 15 kills and 5 blocks.

Also named to the Class 3A All-Tournament Team were: Holly Posey and Kryssi Daniels of Winston County, Layne Dodson of Montgomery Academy and Anna Graham of Plainview.