North Rowan volleyball coach Kami Alford.

Jacqui Smith Watson photo.

 

By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Kami Alford would get votes as the busiest person in Rowan County, and her busiest day of the year was scheduled for Monday.

A wife and a mother of four, which is challenging enough, Alford also is the hard-working, upbeat head coach of North Rowan’s volleyball team.

Her squad played earlier than usual, at 4:30 on Monday afternoon, so she and her team could make it to the North Rowan-Thomasville football game that was moved to Monday night at Eagle Stadium by last week’s hurricane.

Alford is a super-fan, as her two older sons, senior Jeremiah, a quarterback and linebacker, and sophomore Mike, a receiver and linebacker, are two of the top players for the football Cavaliers.

Jeremiah has shattered a host of school and county records for passing and total offense. He’s handled a lot of attention gracefully, which says good things about the upbringing he’s had from Kami and her husband, Brian Alford, who was a two-way star football player for the Cavaliers in his day. Brian is a few years older than Kami, who graduated from North in 2004. Brian was graduating, as she was arriving.

“You raise your children and support them and you always are hopeful they will grow up to do great things,” Kami said. “Brian and I were both athletes, but you never expect your children to be breaking records. There’s no way you can anticipate something like that. We’re very proud parents right now.”

Football fandom and pride were just the start of the active Monday night Kami spent on the North Rowan sidelines.

She’s North’s cheerleading coach, so she’s got those ladies to look after.

She’s also the first responder for North’s football team, so she’s on the front lines any time there’s a serious injury.

As busy as she is, Coach Alford took time to talk about her volleyball team’s progress on Sunday night.

Wins always are hard to come by for North volleyball. The Cavaliers don’t have the luxury of a roster filled with the club players who rule the sport in Rowan and surrounding counties.

“We don’t have the year-round volleyball players,” Alford said. “So my assistants (Summer Smith and Mia Terry) and I are teaching the sport as much as we’re coaching it. We’ve got a young team, we don’t have a lot of experience, and we don’t have big numbers, but we have good athletes and we have played some exciting matches.”

Each victory by the Cavaliers on the court is savored. Even near-misses are encouraging. Even if you lose 3-1, it means you were competitive and had a chance with a few more breaks and a few more calls.

North owns two victories this season, both in the 1A/2A Central Carolina Conference and both against fellow 1A schools.

There’s no doubt the highlight of the season was against South Davidson on Sept. 19.

North had lost to South Davidson in Denton in August.

The Cavaliers got down at home, falling 25-17 and 25-16 to the Wildcats in the first two sets in the rematch. But the Cavaliers rallied to win 25-21 and 25-20 to force a fifth set and won that decisive set, 15-8.

“Now that was exciting,” Alford said. “The girls really wanted to win that one, and they fought for it.”

A lot of North’s volleyball players are familiar names, girls who are athletes in sports like basketball and track and field. They have come out and taken up volleyball for the fun, the memories and to represent their school.

Senior Dasia Elder is a well-known athlete, as she has made a lot of 3-pointers for North basketball, but this is only her second season of playing volleyball in an organized setting.

“Dasia is a good outside hitter and gets kills, but her strength is her serving,” Alford said. “Her serves brought that South Davidson match home for us.”

Allanah McArthur is athletic enough to be a factor in track and field in everything from sprints to throws, and she’s also a member of the basketball team. Her volleyball experience is limited, but she’s taken on the critical position of setter this season. The setter has to be the vocal leader and has to quarterback the team, and McArthur has taken that responsibility.

Krisstyle Stockton is a powerful rebounder for North basketball. The volleyball team usually uses her athletic ability as a middle blocker. She leads the Cavaliers in blocks.

A shoulder injury to Madison Gooch was a factor in moving Stockton from outside hitter to the middle.

Rachel Wilkerson, who is known mostly for soccer, wears the libero shirt for North. That’s a critical, very specialized defensive position.

“She’s one of those girls who is willing to try anything you ask,” Alford said.

JaieDee Russell is a starting outside hitter, but her strength is as a digger.

“She’s on the floor more than anyone,” Alford said. “She’s good on the back, a very good passer.”

Ty’Tiana Clemons is a sophomore that Alford coached a few years ago when Alford was coaching the team at Knox Middle School when North Rowan Middle didn’t have a team. Now they’ve been reunited.

North has had some injuries to overcome. Senior Tiyana Hanson has been able to fill in at different positions.

North has two freshmen on the team, and Alford is excited about Ky’Maria Davidson and Kamilla Gray. They are both getting an earlier start than most North players.

“They’ve both had a lot of growth already this season,” Alford said. “Ky’Maria gets a lot of digs and has a chance to be a real powerhouse player. Kamilla is my niece, so she’s going to be playing a lot of volleyball. She’s already a big server.”

There’s more good news for fans of North Rowan athletics.

Two more Alfords are still a few years away from making headlines, but are on the way. Kami and Brian’s third son is Christian Alford, a talented sixth-grade YFL quarterback and running back.

Eden Alford, the girl, is the youngest in the family. She’s a fourth-grader and is focused now on cheerleading, but Kami may have a volleyball in her hands before too long.