Meridian celebrates winning the Class 2A state volleyball title after beating Woodland at the SunDome on Saturday. JEFF HALLER/Yakima Herald-Republic

After the explosion of cheers, the championship photographs and the post-match handshakes, the Class 2A championship trophy was handed to the Meridian player who most deserved it.

And it didn't feel heavy to Angie Alvord at all.

"I expected it to be way heavier," the Meridian senior middle said with a big grin. "Must be the adrenaline. Everything feels light as a feather."

That's because she had just spent the better part of two days carrying a championship team on her back. The Trojans' 25-21, 16-25, 25-16, 25-19 thumping of defending champion Woodland was another showcase for Alvord, clearly the most dominant player in the tournament. And it ended just the way it should have, with an Alvord blast that caromed off a defender's reflexive stab and fell into the net for the championship point.

"I've got two captains," said Meridian coach Diane Axelson. "I've got Amanda (Maulin, the setter who racked up 38 assists in the final) -- she's the level-headed, calm leader who holds the team together. And I've got Angie, who's the inspirational leader. Amanda's like the team mom, and Angie's the team spirit. She just has a desire to go with her talent."

Alvord was sensational at the net, with 22 kills and 11 blocks, outplaying Woodland's 5-10 Jamie Richards, 2003's 2A player of the year, who finished with 20 kills and one block.

"We tried to stack-block her and get the block, but it seemed like she was always able to find the seam," Woodland coach Jeff Nesbitt said of Alvord.

"They had the hitters and you knew that, and you expected them to get the kills. But I didn't expect them to be that good on defense."

One of the biggest defensive plays -- indeed, one of the turning points -- came early in the third game, after Woodland had dominated the second game to even the match. Richards went up for a kill, but 6-1 Chelsea Huffman blocked it down; when Richards was able to slap the ball up again, Huffman slammed it for a kill that tied the match at 3-3. Huffman had kills on the next two points as Meridian took a 5-3 lead and never again trailed in the game.

"They're one of the few teams that have been able to compete with us at the net, but I think we matched up well with them," Huffman said. "I think we were nervous, but we were more excited. We just wanted it really bad."

The Beavers' 25-7, 25-23, 25-15 semifinal trouncing of King's ended appropriately, with back-to-back blocks for points by Richards. She turned in another dominating performance with 14 kills and three blocks, while her hitting mates, Kim Carter and Megan Thierry, combined for a dozen kills.

"King's came back pretty impressively, though," Nesbitt said. "They could have folded."

The Knights got a big second game from junior outside hitter Sara Mosiman and a strong net performance by 5-10 Carissa Clark, but rarely could they find a hole in the Beavers' very active defense.

In other trophy matches, Lynden Christian rallied from a two-game deficit to beat Pullman in the fourth-seventh place match and Omak won both of its Saturday matches in straight games, first over Steilacoom and then over Colville 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 in the match deciding fifth and eighth places.

For Meridian, the title was the school's second overall, the Trojans having won in 1998 -- ironically, when Axelson was taking a two-year leave from the Meridian job to be an assistant at Lynden, where her daughter was attending school and playing.

As for Alvord, Huffman had an obvious two-word answer for who should be the 2A player of the year.

"Angie Alvord," she said with a nod.

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Class 2A bracket