Clio volleyball team won back-to-back titles

Clio High School has been closed for decades.

But the school can still claim an athletic distinction unique in southeast Alabama. Clio is the only Wiregrass public school to own back-to-back volleyball championships. The Lady Yellow Jackets won state volleyball championships in 1977 and ’78.

Clio coach Ida Corbett, who is a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, led both teams. She credits a group of determined young ladies for the team’s success.

The team’s accomplishments are exceptional considering the school’s lack of financial support, Corbett said.

“There were no school funds. The coach had no salary. The warm-up uniforms were thrown away by the boys,” she recalls. “But [the girls] really wanted to play. They had to work hard for everything they got.”

The 1977 team cruised through the regular season with the exception of one opponent - Eufaula High.

Eufaula was Class 3A while Clio was Class 1A. Both matches between the two schools were fierce.

Eufaula won the first match to snap Clio’s chances of a perfect record. Clio would later defeat Eufaula.

Clio’s end-of-season run was impressive.

The Lady Jackets crushed Notasulga 15-0, 15-3 and Comer 15-3, 15-7 and 15-6, 15-2 to win the Region 3 Tournament.

The state tournament was held at Troy. Clio’s first match was against Wright of Mobile. It appeared for much of the match that Wright would hand Clio its second loss of the season.

Clio won the first game 15-10 but lost the second game by the same score thanks to “sloppy playing” according to Robert Jackson, who wrote an article about the team for an area newspaper.

However, Christine Lightner and Beverly Lowe - two players who were later tapped for the All-State Team - made sure Clio’s tournament run would continue. The Lady Jackets edged Wright 18-16 in the third and decisive game.

Clio cruised the rest of the tournament, defeating Donoho 15-9, 156; Mars Hill 15-6, 15-8; and Donoho 15-7, 15-11 in the state finals.

“The volleyball team and its supporters next hit Clio, their sleepy home base,” Jackson wrote of the team’s evening celebration. “The joyous girls woke up the town with their hollering and celebrating.”

Team members included Betty Green, Brenda Shipman, Barbara Courtney, Christina Lightner, Vanessa Williams, Sally Stinson, Lura Foxx, Shirley Smith, Mary Jane Baxter, Sherri Shipman, Cindy Carroll, Beverly Lowe, Teresa Morris and Lisa Morris.

A second state title didn’t come as easily. The Lady Jackets were dominant in the regular season, defeating teams like Clayton, Donoho and Montgomery Academy with ease. However, they once against struggled in the opening rounds of the state tournament.

Donoho dropped Clio to send the Lady Jackets to the losers’ bracket, meaning it would be a much longer road back to the state finals. However, they rebounded to defeat Hackleburg, Gaston, Altamont and Montgomery Academy to reach the finals.

The first two games were tight. Clio won the first game 15-13, but fell by the same score in the second game. That set up a decisive third game to determine the state champion.

That game was never in doubt, though. Clio won 15-8 to repeat as champions. Lightner was tournament most valuable player. She would later star in volleyball and tennis at Alabama A&M.

Players on the 1978 team included Beverly Lowe, Christine Lightner, Sandra Govan, Mary Jane Baxter, Teresa Morris, Sherri Shipman, Shirley Smith, Brenda Shipman, Lura Foxx, Cynthia Hamm, Betty Green, Karla Walker, Lisa Morris, Cindy Carroll, Sally Stinson, Bessie Baxter and Jura White.

“If there is a list of great teams, I think [these teams] should have a place on the list,” Corbett said.