Sometimes things don’t go as planned.

Saturday I scrambled as fast as possible to get to Oxford to watch Meadowview play in the Alabama Christian Athletic Association’s state volleyball tournament. About ten minutes before I arrived, as luck would have it, the Lady Trojans were eliminated from the tournament and settled for third place.

I made it to Oxford High School, took a picture of the team and talked to the coaches before making the 2.5 hour trek back to Selma. Five hours of driving, just for a quick picture and a couple of short interviews.

But honestly, it was worth it.

These Lady Trojans earned that kind of coverage this year with their exceptional play.

I know volleyball isn’t as popular as football or basketball in our area, but the Lady Trojans definitely deserve some recognition. Meadowview lost only one time during the regular season and ended with only three defeats all season.

Those three losses came to the eventual state champions in New Life and three time defending state champion Tuscaloosa. Not too shabby.

After watching the team early on, I thought it was destined to win the state title. Like with Dallas County’s basketball team last season, I felt the Lady Trojans were just that good.

Obviously, New Life and Tuscaloosa — good teams in their own right — had other plans, but Meadowview should be very proud of its third place showing. It’s one of the best volleyball finishes in school history.

The Lady Trojans played with heart all season and really impressed me with the way they carried themselves. Perhaps its head coach Tim Burton’s laid back coaching style that sets the tone, but in a handful of games this year I never saw the Lady Trojans lose their cool.

Instead, they were composed at all times, which was probably one of the reasons they were so good this year. When they won last week to reach the state tournament, there was no real celebration or yelling or screaming.

If I hadn’t known what the game was for, I would’ve thought it was a preseason game in the middle of July.

It was a lot of fun to cover the Lady Trojans and all of our local volleyball teams this season. We had some good teams this year and appear to have several programs building towards a successful future.

It may not be long before there’s another local volleyball team racing towards a state title, but this year was all about Meadowview.