The parade is what did it for Genoa-Kingston’s Alayna Pierce.
In the preseason, Pierce and her teammates came up with the goal of reaching state for the first time in program history. At that time, Redbird Arena felt like a world away.
But when Pierce and her teammates were greeted with a parade through downtown Genoa after winning the Class 2A state title Saturday, the reality of the situation hit home.
“It’s just a dream,” Pierce said. “It’s kind of crazy that it all happened. A lot of us are still in shock. It was amazing just to know all the support we had. All the people showed up.
“We had a parade when we got home and ended up at the football field, and so many people were there supporting us.”
While the Cogs had a strong supporting cast, they couldn’t have pulled it off without Pierce, the 2022 Beacon-News/Courier-News Girls Volleyball Player of the Year.
Pierce, a 5-11 junior outside hitter, led the area with 452 kills. The Tennessee Tech recruit had 18 in Saturday’s 25-21, 27-25 win over IC Catholic in the final match at Illinois State.
A first team all-state selection, Pierce also picked up that award last weekend in Normal.
“She has such a hammer of an arm swing,” Genoa-Kingston coach Keith Foster said. “So many players can hit it at a great angle and trajectory, but when she hits it, you feel it.”
However, Pierce isn’t just all power. She rarely if ever leaves the court, playing all six rotations. She added 294 digs and served 37 aces.
“Serving, digging, serve receive, for a six-rotation outside hitter, she’s high level,” Foster said. “There’s nothing she does that isn’t anything less than spectacular.”
Foster said he knew he had a team talented enough to reach that goal, but it looks a lot easier on paper than it does in on the court.
“The whole year we were saying we’re going to make it to the Final Four,” Foster said. “Nothing was handed to us. You feel confident, but when you’re facing the teams people question if you’re better than over and over again, it can be a daunting task.
“I don’t think they ever once doubted themselves. It was great to see them come together and fight through obstacle after obstacle. It was just a really special year.”
Pierce tried to help keep the team focused throughout the season.
“We had to believe in ourselves and keep pushing,” Pierce said. “It just kept happening and we kept winning. We wanted to make it to state. That was our biggest goal.
“It was pretty crazy looking into the stands and seeing how much support we had. Our entire community and our high school were there. This was our team’s dream. To know we’ve made it is so amazing.”
Now, Pierce turns her attention to the offseason.
She’s already made her college choice, but the work doesn’t stop there before club season with Fusion and also with Tommy Hansen from Perform 4 Life in DeKalb.
“It will be a grind with him, working on getting stronger and repairing my muscles for club season,” Pierce said.
The focus will then shift to next season, and the Cogs will have high expectations yet again.
Four seniors depart due to graduation, but Pierce returns along with libero Hannah Langton, who spearheaded the Cogs’ dominant defense, and setter Alivia Keegan, who ran the show.
“We’re still going to be pretty good next year and we still have so much fight in us,” Pierce said. “We have a drive to keep doing it. We aren’t going to give up next year. We want to keep fighting.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.