UTSA middle blocker Alicia Coppedge’s college volleyball career has traveled a winding road. It endured a pandemic, a coaching change and seemingly a revolving door of teammates.

Yet there Coppedge was on Sunday, a day set aside to pay homage to the team’s seniors, embracing every minute and creating more memories in her final home contest.

And while she isn’t the Roadrunners’ No. 1 option on offense, when victory was within reach, Coppedge was the logical choice as the most-tenured player on the roster. Sophomore setter Annika Sokol made sure.

“I just kind of knew she was going to do it,” Coppedge said. “I was like, ‘You’re going to give this to me and I’m going to end it.’ She even told me, ‘If you didn’t get (a kill on the first attempt), I was going to keep giving it back to you.'”

Coppedge’s match-ending kill was the final highlight on an afternoon filled with them, lifting UTSA past Florida Atlantic 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 in an American Athletic Conference contest at the Convocation Center.

“It was very motivational,” UTSA freshman outside hitter Ally Tribe said. “I’m super close with a bunch of the seniors and I just felt like we really needed to win this match for them because it’s been a rocky road this season. I feel like getting this win was really special for them and it was such a fun match.”

Coppedge and fellow seniors Faye Wilbricht, Ellie Turner and Brooke Hirsch were recognized in a post-match ceremony. Hirsch and Turner didn’t play this season after both had to medically retire.

“I would say it was bittersweet, just waking up knowing I get to play with my teammates for the last time in this gym,” said Wilbricht, who starred at Holy Cross, a local private school, then played two seasons at Texas A&M before returning to her hometown for her final two seasons at UTSA. “It was exciting, a little sad, but ultimately, I was just really happy to be here and be with them. I think it really sunk in when it was that third set, we were at 20, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is really it.’ “

At that moment, the Roadrunners (9-18, 3-11) displayed the promise they had for themselves entering the season but weren’t always able to fulfill. They used a 7-1 run to snap a 13-13 tie in the first set, a 7-2 spurt to overcome a 13-12 deficit in the second frame and a 9-1 flurry to pull away from a 9-9 tie in the third stanza.

Tribe had nine of her team-best 11 kills and junior Mia Soerensen tallied seven of her nine kills over the final two sets.

“We’re capable of playing this way all the time,” UTSA coach Carol Price-Torok said. “We’ve been talking about it all year; everybody being on the same page at the same time. I think the biggest thing, for me, is that they kept trusting that and they just kept showing up. They very easily could’ve cratered, they very easily could’ve not cared about that. It also goes to how much they appreciate these seniors and what they did for them.”

Coppedge has been a nurturing presence this season for a young team. But playing in her final contest at the Convocation Center, she notched a season-high nine kills, including ones on the first and final points of the match. She also added 3 1/2 blocks.

“I didn’t really even think about it,” Coppedge said of her home finale. “We were going hard. I was having so much fun. It was just more like, ‘Keep going, keep playing, keep putting it on the ground until it’s over.’ “

terrence@terrencesports.com
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