AREA VOLLEYBALL TOURNEY: Pike Road earns berth in Super Regional with area title
Pike Road’s Taylor Robinson with a spike against St. James in the Class 6A, Area 4 tournament on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
PIKE ROAD -- Any team facing Pike Road has the formidable challenge of taking on a pair of outside hitters on both sides of the court, Allie Lovrich and Taylor Robinson.
“I cannot say enough about the energy they bring to the front row,” Pike Road coach Joi Washington said. “Allie played outstanding defensively tonight. I’ve just been blessed to coach her for five years. Taylor Robinson, what she does and brings us is energy. Nine times out of 10, we feel confident that ball is not coming back.”
Robinson had 19 kills and Lovrich had 16 as the Patriots cruised through the 6A Area 4 Tournament on Wednesday, defeating Park Crossing 25-5, 25-11 and 25-3, then beating St. James in the championship match, 25-18, 26-24 and 25-11.
The Trojans fought back in the second set and had a 21-18 lead late before giving up five straight points. St. James rallied to tie the game at 23-23, then fell to defeat and was never the same. In the third set, Robinson’s authoritative deliveries sent St. James coach Karen Lee to the bench to see if anyone could handle the Pike Road outside hitter.
“I tried a few different things in the third set that we don’t typically do,” Lee said. “They’ve got some great outside hitters so I was trying a few different people on that side (opposite Robinson) to see if we could get some touches and blocks over there.”
The win was the 17th consecutive victory for Pike Road (33-5), which tied a school record for wins with last year’s 33-11 team. To get to 34, the Patriots will have to find a way to handle Spanish Fort (57-8), which lost to Bayside Academy in the Area 2 Tournament on Wednesday night. The Patriots will face the Toros in the opening round of the South Super Regional at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
“We’re up for the challenge,” Washington said. “We’ve seen both of those teams. We respect both of those teams. We’re Pike Road and we’re focused on how we do things and what we want to do. We’re excited for the challenge.”
The Patriots won their fourth consecutive area tournament on Wednesday with the win over the Trojans. Since losing to Prattville Christian in the 3A area tournament semifinals in 2019, Pike Road won a pair of area tournaments as a 5A team, reaching the super regional in 2020 before finishing 11-16 and reaching the 5A semifinals in 2021 before losing to Bayside Academy and finishing 24-13. As a 6A program, they again reached the super regionals with a 33-11 record last year and will make their fourth consecutive trip to the super regionals next week.
Earlier this season, the faced both Spanish Fort and Bayside Academy in the Mayor’s Cup, losing to both.
Wednesday’s win was the third this season for the Patriots against the Trojans, but it never gets any easier, Washington said.
“We have so much respect for Coach Lee and St. James and what she has done and is doing with that program,” Washington said. “I just told the girls not to let up, they’re going to make good plays. Obviously, Ava Card is an outstanding athlete and an outstanding volleyball player and we know she’s going to make plays.
“So I’ve been preaching to them, it’s all about the response. Volleyball is a game of momentum and we want to make sure that when they do good things, we respond right away.”
For the Patriots, Rylie Fureigh had 12 aces, 26 assists and seven digs in the two matches, Sydney Carr had seven kills, Lovrich had four aces, 16 kills, 14 digs and two assists, Robinson had 19 kills, two blocks and three digs, Brely Dees had 11 aces, 16 digs and three assists, Lola Gorman had eight digs and two aces, Caroline Davis had 19 assists and five digs, Jada Gresham had 10 kills and two blocks, Kathryn Wilson had seven kills and a block, Marley Gorman had four aces, three kills and two digs, Emma Davis had three kills, Talynn Coleman had two kills and Alliyssa Earle had two kills.
Washington praised the performance of her setters in Wednesday’s victory.
“My setters, Rylie Fureigh and Caroline Davis, they’re dishing the ball, they’re my quarterbacks of the team,” Washington said. “These girls bring it and give me energy and hard work every single day.”
St. James (29-11) has the dubious distinction of facing Bayside Academy in the opening round of the super regional on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Admirals (42-8) have won 21 consecutive state championships and 31 overall.
“Wins are great, losses you learn a lot,” Lee said. “Whenever we go back to the gym after a loss, we look at what we did well, but more importantly we look at what we didn’t do well to try and learn from it and better our team.
“We’ll get back at the drawing board tomorrow and try to get a game plan together. Bayside is always solid. They have 20-something state championships so we’re going to have to try and do something a little bit different, a little bit better and go from there.”
AHSAA SOUTH SUPER REGIONAL
Multiplex at Cramton Bowl
CLASS 6A
Game 1 -- Calera vs. Brookwood, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 2 -- Saraland vs. Stanhope Elmore, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 3 -- Pelham vs. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 4 -- Pike Road vs. Spanish Fort, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 5 -- Bayside Academy vs. St. James, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 6 -- Northridge vs. Briarwood Christian, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Game 7 -- Wetumpka vs. Murphy, Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.
Game 8 -- McAdory vs. Chilton County, Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.
Game 9 -- Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Game 10 -- Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Game 11-- Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Game 12 -- Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Game 13 -- Semifinals, Thursday, 2 p.m.
Game 14 -- Semifinals, Thursday, 2 p.m.
Game 15 -- Finals, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Game 16 -- Consolation, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.