PELHAM — No one on Addison High’s volleyball team seemed to know exactly what got the runs started.

But once they did, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the Bulldogs were playing themselves within one win of another state championship.

Playing for a second consecutive trip to the Class 2A title game, top-ranked Addison (68-3) used long scoring runs in all three games to sweep its semifinal match against No. 5 Geraldine in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Elite Eight Wednesday at the Pelham Civic Complex.

With its 25-10, 25-16, 25-11 victory, the Bulldogs advance to the state championship game, where they’ll face No. 3 Lexington (41-6) for the second consecutive year. The Golden Bears defeated Sand Rock 25-12, 25-20, 25-20 in the other 2A semifinal.

The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals with a 25-17, 25-9, 25-4 win over Shades Mountain Christian in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinal round.

Against Geraldine, Addison relied on long runs to take control of each game.

Trailing 7-5 in the opener, the Bulldogs went on a 16-1 run before going on to take a 25-10 win.

Addison took control early in game two, scoring eight straight points and winning 25-16 after falling behind 2-0.

In the decisive third game, the Bulldogs turned a tight 12-8 lead into a commanding 19-8 advantage with seven straight points.

But even though they were on the court, none of Addison’s players seemed to know how all the runs came together.

“It’s just easy, once we get pumped up and we’re ready,” said senior setter Kali Lake, who finished with 38 assists. “It’s hard to explain, but the momentum got going and everybody got excited.”

Junior Sadie Beam thought it had something to do with the strong hitting of Kaitlin Parker, who finished with eight kills and two blocks.

“Whenever we get fired up or make a big play, then we get into it,” said Beam, who recorded a team-high 13 kills to go along with eight digs. “Probably when Kaitlin Parker started slamming that ball, then it got us all fired up.”

Another candidate would have to be Kateria Feezell, who served 11 straight times during Addison’s long run in the first game. The sophomore defensive specialist started serving with a 10-8 lead and didn’t stop until the Bulldogs were ahead 21-8.

“If we get focused on the game and we get a bunch of momentum, then its pretty tough to stop us unless we mess ourselves up,” said Beam.

Addison coach Pam Wilkins said her team went on runs when Geraldine middle hitter Alanna Smith wasn’t on the front row.

“Sometimes we just get in a real good rotation with our hitters, but it depends on the other team too,” she said. “They have a big blocker up there, and if you noticed when their big blocker rotated to the back row or rotated out of the game, that’s when we went on those big runs.”

Geraldine (48-16) threatened to get back into it with five straight points in game two, but Kaydi Langley closed the game with three straight serves.

In game three, Addison jumped out to a 19-8 advantage before coasting into today’s championship match, where it will look to avenge last year’s loss to Lexington.

The Bulldogs defeated the Golden Bears in a tournament earlier this year, but Wilkins wasn’t ready to declare her team the favorite.

“We wanted to be in the championship game, and it would be nice to win it, but we have a young team,” she said. “We have five 10th-graders and four of them are starting.”

Alex Scott finished with 14 digs, while Langley collected 12 kills. Morgan Ray had five kills and two blocks, Jamie Blair had seven digs and Feezell added five digs.

In the quarterfinal match against Shades Mountain Christian, Langley led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, while Feezell had four aces and Scott recorded 11 digs.

The championship match is scheduled for today at 9 a.m.

Michael Cummings can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258 or by e-mail at jgraves@cullmantimes.com