PELHAM, Ala., — A young Gulf Shores Lady Dolphins volleyball team fell to the eventual state runner up in the quarterfinals of the 5A Elite Eight state championship tournament Wednesday in the Pelham Civic Complex.

GSHS took control early to win game one 25-22 against Madison County, but the Tigers regrouped to eliminate the Dolphins 3-1 by winning the next three games 25-13, 25-17 and 25-22. GS rallied in game four to within one point of forcing a fifth game on No. 2 ranked MCHS.

GSHS was led by senior Virginia Jones who had 16 kills, 2 aces and 10 digs, "Plus," as head

coach Wing Brett said, "a heap load of passing and ball control. She's our one all-star and everyone else did a good job of helping her play up to her potential and the team to do it's best. We really came a long way since the start of this season. I'm extremely proud and impressed with this team." Amanda Brett had 15 digs and 3 aces and Lauren Tait had 22 assists, "With some good blocking at the net," he added, for the 'Phins.

The second-ranked Lady Tigers (63-7) were led by a pair of southpaw junior hitters in Syretha Pride with 24 kills, 10 digs and nine blocks and Hannah Nichols who had 15 kills, nine digs and six blocks with Dena Pierce assisting for 51. The Tigers also came up with good defense led by Brandie Moore's back row play. But, MCHS fell in the finals to defending state 5A champion St. Paul's in three-straight games.

After making it to the semifinals last year where they fell to eventual 2010 champion St. Paul's, and losing seven seniors this past spring the Dolphins had to rely on less experience this year, but still went far on determination, persistence and dedication to hard work.

"I was thinking when I called them over (time out) in that last game," Brett said. "This team does not quit and that's one of the things I have enjoyed most about this team. They fought back and almost pulled it out in game four. I'm also impressed with how cool and unrattled they were. They won the war of nerves in the first game and I was hoping we could ride that out, sometimes you get hot or a player does and you can really ride that out, but they (MCHS) got it together even though this was their first trip here. Madison County plays a lot of good schools in a tough region like ours (Region 1 produced 4-of-the-last-5 state champions in 5A, Faith and St. Paul's). They got past it and they are very, very good."

He added that what started out as a rebuilding year picked up momentum toward the area title earlier that expected. "We had a lot of turnover, seven kids, but this team is not intimidated and with hard work and effort, we got better pretty fast this year. And also had few injuries. And by just getting here, they won half the battle.  We're losing three more this year, Virginia, Skylar Stuckey and Sara Uter and they will all be missed. But by helping us and the younger ones get back here, it exposes them to this unique atmosphere and pressure they  were exposed to last year and so on. But, like I tell them, everybody wants to get here, and being good is only part of it. It helps a lot if you've been here before. This is a different level of intensity and even good players get nervous. So, I think our future looks good and having made it here again always helps the next group the next year."

Gulf Shores finished the 2011 season as the Area 2 champs with a 30-15 overall record.