20 for 20: Sand Storm

The 2020-21 athletic year is the 20th year that I (Paul Welker) have served as Alfred State's Sports Information Director. During this school year I plan on writing a 20-part series on my time covering the Pioneers.

When Sand Storm by Darude or Chicken Noodle Soup by Young B & DJ Webster started playing over the loudspeaker of the Orvis Activities Center you knew it was almost opening serve of an Alfred State volleyball match during a dominant stretch by the Pioneers lasting from the 2006 all the way to the 2008 season. In that stretch the Pioneers won 106 matches (.891 winning percentage), won two Region III Championships, and traveled to the NJCAA Division III National Championships twice.

Covering the dominance of this team is still one of my favorite memories of my time at Alfred State. The team worked themselves in the the national picture, filled the Orvis Activities Center, and hardly lost a set.

2006: The dominance started in 2006 with a 22 game winning streak to start the season. The young gun Pioneers featured six freshmen out of the nine players on the roster. Brianne McMahon, Yurika Toyodome, Shannon Jablonski, Elaina Braun, and Natalie Gregory slid right in and made instant impacts along with returners Jessica Bonczar and Megan Watson. The team lost only one set in the 22 game winning streak that lasted nearly six weeks and pushed the team into the national rankings. After falling to NJCAA Division II Genesee CC, the Pioneers ended the regular season with five straight wins, including a thrilling 3-2 win on senior day over Monroe CC.

The Pioneers split a pair of matches in the WNYAC Championship and headed to the Region III Championship as the #1 seed and host. The Pioneers went 3-0 in Round Robin play and defeated Jefferson CC in the semifinals to earn their first chance for a trip to the Nationals. They matched up vs. Monroe CC for the third time on the season and the Tribunes were able to defeat the Pioneers, playing without McMahon, 3-1 and end Alfred State's season with a 32-3 record.

The Pioneer climbed as high as #5 in the NJCAA DIII poll, McMahon was named an All-American and Region III Player of the Year, and head coach Gene Doorley was named Region III Coach of the Year.

2007: The taste of being so close in 2006 motivated the now veteran Pioneers. The team featured a core of four returners that along with talented newcomers Jenni Jerome and Georgia Buchholz continued the success of 2006. The team won two of their opening three tournament and was 20-2 heading into their annual home tournament, including an impressive 6-0 mark without losing a set at the Onondaga CC Tournament. The blue & gold won their home tournament and finished the regular season winning 10 of their last 12 to once again earn the #1 seed in the Region III Tournament.

Leaving nothing to chance, the Pioneers didn't lose a set as they swept SUNY Delhi, SUNY Cobleskill, and Mohawk Valley CC to earn a spot in the semifinals. The next day they swept Corning CC and then swept Jamestown CC to earn the programs first Regional Championship since 1977 and punch their trip to Rochester, MN for the NJCAA Division III Championship.

Less than two week's later, the Pioneers were on their way to Rochester, MN. A long day of travel consisted of a van trip from Alfred to Buffalo, a plane trip to Minneapolis, and a van drive to Rochester, MN. That long day ended with a quick practice and pizza while the next day included practice on the game court and the National Championship banquet. 

The 2007 National Championship featured pool play with the top two teams advancing to championship play the following the day. The Pioneers were the #6 seed and were placed in a pool with #2 Central Lakes (MN), #3 Brookhaven (TX), and #7 Suffolk (NY). The Pioneers played tough in their opening two matches but fell 3-0 to both Brookhaven and Central Lakes (three of those sets were 28-30). They bounced back in their final match of pool play with a sweep of Suffolk. Unfortunately, the Pioneers didn't advance to the Championship round and finished the season with a 36-6 overall record and #6 in the nation.

McMahon repeated as a NJCAA All-American and was joined on the A-A team by Elaina Braun who successfully had transitioned to the setter position. Doorley was named the AVCA Northeast Coach of the Year for the second straight year.

One of the highlghts of the trip to Minnesota was the day after being eliminated from the championship. The team headed to the gym to watch some of the semifinals but then took the hour trip to Minneapolis to check out the Mall of America and headed to the University of Minnesota to check out the Gophers women's volleyball team. 

2008: The graudation of McMahon, Braun, Jablonski, and Gregory left big holes to be filled as the team started their repeat attempt. Jerome returned for her senior year and Yurika Toyodome rejoined the team after not playing during the 2007 season. The pair was joined by eight newcomers on the roster.

Lack of experience didn't seem to show as the Pioneers won nine of their first ten matches and 18 of their first 20. Their only two losses of the first month of the season came in contests vs. Jamestown CC, the team ASC defeated in the Region III Finals the year before. Win #18 on the year was a home swep of JCC that turned the tides on the rivalry. The Pioneers sufered only one more loss the rest of the regular season and then captured the WNYAC Championship with wins over Niagara CCC and Genesee CC to head into the Regional Championship for the 3rd straight season as the #1 seed with a 33-3 mark.

A single elimination format was debuted at Regionals as Alfred State hosted the championship for the third straight year. The Pioneers dominated as they swept through their three matches including a sweep of Jamestown CC to earn their second straight trip to Rochester, MN.

Just like the previous year, two week's later the Pioneers spent a long day traveling to arrive at the 2008 NJCAA National Championship. This year, the team entered the tournament as the #4 seed and took on #5 Hibbing (MN) CC in the national quarterfinals. ASC and Hibbing split the first two sets of the match but HCC jumped to early leads in set three and four and didn't allow the Pioneers back in the game. The blue & gold didn't stay down long as they finished the season with a pair of sweeps in consolation matches, 3-0 over Anne Arundel (MD) and Nassau CC, to finish 4th overall and set a new school record with 38 wins (38-4).

Jerome along with Toyodome both were named NJCAA All-Americans at the conclusion of the season.

Memories of the Run:

• Wins, Wins, Wins - 106 victories in three seasons is unheard of.
• Doorley and his assistant coach Stephanie Sprague worked together for the whole run. Sprague, a kindergarten teacher and one of Doorley's former players at Alfred University, combined to coach the program to new heights. 
• Sand Storm, Chicken Noodle Soup, and any other song that they played during their hitting portion of warm-ups set the mood for the game. The big warm-up swings that sent balls flying towards fans in the bleachers not only pumped up the team but intimidated their opponents. (Confession - I had to reach out to the women on the team for the song titles - there is no way I ever knew the name of the songs even back in 2006.)
• The tradition of Dig Pink or Think Pink games that raised money for breast cancer research started during this era. The volleyball team has run similar events ever since then.
• Three members of this team have been inducted into the Hall of Fame - McMahon, Jerome, and Braun. The whole era of volleyball (2006-08) was also honored as a Hall of Fame team in 2015.
• Many of these teammates are still very close to each other and close to Coach Doorley - I imagine an Alumni game would feature blood, sweat, and tears.

Previous 20 for 20's:

Story 1: The First Fall

Story 2: Gina and Juice

Story 3: Nose, Ear, Knee

Story 4: Football Tales