AHSAA Regionals: Trinity takes 3A title; Pike Road eliminated in 5A

Trinity celebrates the Class 3A Regional win Thursday at Garrett Coliseum. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Trinity coach Sarah Dubberley hadn’t really thought about qualifying for the 3A state volleyball tournament.

Thursday’s South Super Regional tournament, originally scheduled for the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl, was unexpectedly changed to Garrett Coliseum because of ongoing construction work at the Multiplex.

Then nearly half of the electrical power that would normally light up the coliseum failed to reach the facility, plunging that facility into half-darkness. 

Through all of the distractions, Trinity’s volleyball team maintained its focus, defeating Cottage Hill Christian, Thomasville and Houston Academy in straight sets to win the 3A regional championship on Thursday.

“The girls played well considering they’re playing in unfamiliar territory, it’s not the Multiplex they’re used to, the building is running on 60 percent power and kind of smells like cigarettes,” Dubberley said. “I mean, they’re having to push through all these weird outside factors they’re not used to. So it was essentially a game of mental toughness that they were able to focus on taking care of business and moving on.”

Trinity defeated Cottage Hill 25-17, 25-13 and 25-19 to reach the regional semifinals and earn a berth in the state tournament.

“It feels so good,” Dubberley said. “I’m not even taking time to fully soak in the fact that that means we’re going to state. But it’s so huge and I’m so proud of the girls. They’ve been working hard since June when we started doing weights and their hard work in paying off.”

The Wildcats defeated Thomasville 25-13, 25-12 and 25-10 to reach the finals and disposed of Houston Academy in straight sets as well to earn the South’s top seed in next week’s state tournament at the Birmingham Crossplex.  

Trinity (20-8) will face Lauderdale County (28-17) in the quarterfinals of the 3A state tournament on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The other three matches, also at 10 a.m., will pit Plainview and Thomasville, Houston Academy against Fyffe and Prattville Christian vs. Pleasant Valley.

The semifinals will be on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., with the championship match set for Thursday at noon.

Pike Road falls in 5A Regionals

Something wasn’t quite right with Pike Road’s volleyball team.

Sure, the Patriots had their work cut out for them, battling a talented Satsuma team in the opening round of the 5A South Super Regionals at Garrett Coliseum on Thursday. But Pike Road showed little of the resolve it demonstrated in beating Brew Tech in the area tournament final last week or sweeping Rehobeth in straight sets in the sub-regional.

“I kind of anticipated it,” Pike Road coach Joi Washington said. “We’re still young and we’ve got some young girls I’m extremely excited about in key positions. I anticipated the first set would be a little shaky for us, and it was, but I’m so proud of this team, the tone we’ve set and the history we’ve made for this program.”

Pike Road (11-16) didn’t play well in the first set, falling to Satsuma 25-12 before rallying to even the best-of-five series 25-14 on Thursday afternoon. Satsuma came back, however, ending the season for the Patriots with 25-17 and 25-16 wins, then defeating Elberta to reach the finals, where they finished second to Bayside Academy.

Pike Road, which had a losing season in its first year as a program in 2018, reached the area tournament semifinals in 2018, then won the area tournament in 2020 and reached the super regionals for the first time in school history.

“I’m excited about what we’re doing at Pike Road Schools,” Washington said. “Pike Road volleyball, everybody’s going to know who we are.”

That was the message the second-year coach delivered to her returning players after the match on Thursday.

“Our seniors, along with last year’s seniors, gave it everything they had,” Washington said. “I’m proud. I don’t think a lot of people knew who we were, even today. (I told the players) to just have fun with the experience. This is not something that every team gets to do. Some very, very talented teams that beat us during the season are at home right now. I’ve got a good bit of freshmen and sophomores and having this experience is huge. They get to carry it into next year.”