CCC VOLLEYBALL: Catholic slams door on PCA
Audrey Trant with a set in Catholic’s straight-set win over Prattville Christian on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
There was plenty of the line in Thursday’s volleyball match between Catholic and Prattville Christian Academy.
A win by Trinity over the Knights a week ago in the Catholic gym left the door ajar in the 3A Area 6 race, but Catholic quickly slammed it shut with a sweep of the Panthers, winning 25-20, 25-18 and 25-21 to capture the top seed in the upcoming area tournament.
“It’s huge and it was never a foregone conclusion,” Catholic coach Sellers Dubberley said. “Never one time did I not think that us getting swept 3-0 was a distinct possibility. They’re extremely talented. None of these teams are going to give up.”
Catholic (31-6) improved to 5-1 in area play, but needed the win to ensure it was Catholic, and not Trinity, who grabbed the top seed for the area tournament. Just as important, however, was the need to shake off the loss to the Wildcats and return to form with a win over the Panthers.
“I told our girls before we played Trinity, they’re a really talented team and we’re not unbeatable in any aspect of the game,” Dubberley said. “I don’t know if some of them thought we were, but they came out incredibly flat and Trinity played lights out the whole game. Do I know if they learned from it? I hope they did, because if they didn’t learn from it, it’ll repeat every time we play them.
“I think that may have been a wakeup call for a few of our girls. We have things we have to improve on and playing in this area, there are no easy games. They were a little more on top of it tonight.”
Catholic jumped out early and grabbed the upper hand in the best-of-five set, perhaps fueled by the idea that anything less than their best could leave them in second place in the area behind Trinity. The Panthers, meanwhile, could do no better than second place in all the tiebreaker scenarios and while they kept it close, perhaps that knowledge kept them from ever finding an extra gear in the match between two of the state’s best volleyball programs.
“I don’t think we played our best,” PCA coach Kaylon Cantrell noted. “We weren’t jelling as well as we could have. We knew it was going to be us and Trinity in the first round (of next week’s area tournament) and I think we were focused on that.”
For Prattville Christian, Jamie Johnson had eight assists, three kills, a pair of digs and a block, Ella Jane Connell had eight assists, three kills and five digs, Hannah Jones had eight kills, two blocks, an ace, an assist and six digs and Coco Thomas had seven kills and two blocks. Avery Rogers had six digs, two aces and three assists, Emma Cate Carter had four kills and a dig, LB NeSmith had two kills, two aces and three digs and Sydney Lee had three digs.
Prattville Christian (21-10) will face Trinity in the opening round of the area tournament on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Catholic gym. Last year, the two teams met for the area title and then again in the semifinals of the state tournament, with the winner (Trinity) advancing to the Class 3A finals. This year, one of the state’s best 3A teams will be sitting at home on Friday, eliminated from postseason competition.
“That’s what you know,” Cantrell said. “Today wasn’t our best, but our best against their best or our best against Trinity’s best is a game. All three of us are state championship-caliber teams. It’s unfortunate that one of the top teams in the state isn’t even going to make it out of the area.”
Catholic will play the winner immediately following at approximately 6 p.m., guaranteed a postseason berth after missing out last season. Dubberley is happy for the postseason opportunity, but not at the expense of one of his Area 6 rivals.
“These are our biggest rivals,” he said. “You’ve got to respect the team on the other side (of the net). They’re really good. They’re doing something right, they’ve been good for a long time. The more respect you have for them, the more it’s frustrating.
“If we go on to state, awesome. If we go on and win it, awesome. It’s still going to bother me that one of these teams didn’t get a chance to make a run through (the playoffs). I don’t think that’s right.”