PREP RECAP: PCA, Catholic advance in state volleyball; Trinity eliminated
Prattville Christian earned a trip to the state tourney with a regional title on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Prattville Christian completed its mission in the South Super Regional on Thursday, rallying with wins in the fourth and fifth sets to defeat Orange Beach and win the super regional championship.
Prattville Christian (42-14) will face Cherokee County in the quarterfinals of the state tournament next week in Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena.
“I am so proud of our girls for their fight today,” PCA coach Kaylon Cantrell said. “Orange Beach played an amazing game and really put us to the test. As tough as it was in the moment, we needed that adversity today before heading to state next week. It could’ve been easy for our girls to get down and defeated during several moments of that game, but they worked together and found a way to fight through and overcome it, and I couldn't be more proud.”
PCA qualified for the state tournament on Wednesday, but used Thursday’s game to determine seeding in the upcoming state tournament. PCA swept St. Michael 25-19, 25-18 and 25-12 to advance to the super regional championship match where they defeated Orange Beach 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-9.
For the Panthers, Baylee Rogers had 86 assists, six aces and 17 digs, Emma Cate Carter had 50 kills, two aces and 33 digs, Leah Cate Wilson had 28 kills, a block and a dig, Maren Diefenderfer had 23 kills, three blocks and a dig and Jenna McClendon had eight kills, four digs and five blocks.
In addition, Paysley Bayer had four kills and 13 digs, Morgan Fowler had eight aces and 14 digs, Natalee Wheeler had an assist, two aces and 29 digs, Brylee Byrd had an assist, an ace and nine digs, Aiden Williams had an ace and 13 digs and Olivia Rossi had a block and three digs.
Catholic advances to State tourney
Catholic didn’t play until Thursday in the South Super Regional, but the two-time defending state champions got a wakeup call on Wednesday night after watching Capital City Conference rival Montgomery Academy suffer a stunning season-ending loss to Spanish Fort.
It happened again on Thursday afternoon as Trinity’s season came to a crashing halt against UMS-Wright, but the Knights didn’t suffer the same fate, beating Briarwood Christian 25-21, 25-17 and 25-18 to advance to the state tournament for the fifth time in the last six years.
“I have friends from both MA and Trinity and I’m sorry for both of those teams because they’re both really great teams,” senior Harper Howell said. “I’m really proud of my team and what we just accomplished.”
Catholic (28-12) will determine its seeding for next week’s state tournament on Friday, playing Faith Academy in the semifinals and either UMS-Wright or Demopolis in either the regional championship or consolation game on Friday.
“I’m so relieved,” Catholic coach Jen Denham said. “Watching what happened to MA was crushing to see those girls. It was just really hard to see that. We felt for them so much. I just told our girls we’ve got to focus on ourselves today. Don’t worry about who’s on the other side of the net and what they’re doing, we need to worry about what we’re doing. If we execute on our end, we’ll play some really good volleyball.”
The Knights did play really good volleyball on Thursday, beating Brew Tech 25-15, 25-16 and 25-18 in a first-round game earlier in the day. Against Briarwood, the Knights struggled for much of the first set before shifting gears and putting away the Lions.
“The first set, you could tell the nerves were winning that battle,” Denham said. “I told the girls to keep fighting, keep grinding, keep believing in yourselves. The nerves will work themselves out and then we’re going to roll.”
The Knights were rarely challenged in the last two sets.
“I think that was one of the best games we’ve played all year,” Howell said. “I’m thankful we played our best in a game like that.”
In the win over Briarwood, Howell had 11 kills, four blocks, a dig, an assist and three aces, Maria Schwarz had a kill, three digs, 32 assists and five aces, Grace Levanda had seven kills, two blocks, two digs and six aces and Kierstyn Green had three kills, a block and two digs.
Against Brew Tech, Howell had 11 kills and a block, Schwarz had a kill, 40 assists and three aces, Levanda had seven kills, a block and a dig, Rudolph had eight kills, eight digs and an ace, Joi McGuire had seven kills and six digs and Ava Bierly had 12 digs.
For Brew Tech (20-18), Jade Nguyen had five kills, eight digs, three assists and an ace, Elaisa Vazquez had a kill, two blocks, four digs and 29 assists and Zariah Banks-Taylor had four kills, a dig and an ace.
In each of the past three years, Catholic has reached the championship game of the state tournament.
“Consistency is a huge thing from this point on because every team that we’re going to be playing is going to be playing their best game and playing lights out,” Howell said. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy but as long as we trust each other and know that the girl next to us is doing their job, I think we’ll be able to keep pushing forward.”
Trinity's Micaiah Shelton returns shot in Trinity’s match against UMS-Wright on Thursday at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex. (Tim Gayle)
Trinity eliminated by UMS-Wright
Trinity entered the South Super Regional knowing that UMS-Wright stood between the Wildcats and a return to the state tournament, just as the Bulldogs did a year ago.
Last year, the Bulldogs stunned the Wildcats, who had advanced to the state championship game in each of the previous three seasons before losing to the Bulldogs in the second round of the 4A South Super Regional.
On Thursday, the Bulldogs did it again, losing to Trinity 25-21 in the first set, then beating the Wildcats 25-20, 25-23 and 25-22 to finish their season in the 5A South Super Regional at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
“It stings a little more for me this year because the team was so special and so close, so I hurt for the girls,” Trinity coach Sarah Dubberley said.
Trinity was making its 10th trip to the super regionals in their 13 years of existence and failed to reach the regional finals for only the fourth time in that span.
“We started out strong (against UMS-Wright) and I take peace in knowing that the girls did everything they could have,” Dubberley said. “We told them last night it was already written, that God already knew who’s going to come out on top in this game. It was not us today. UMS played a great game. But I take peace in also knowing that this season has been so special because of the group of girls that I have. It’s been such a great ride.”
“I told them that when you put your head on the pillow tonight, you need to have some peace, knowing this team has some things that other teams can’t duplicate. Which is how they love each other, trust each other and rally around each other. It has been so enjoyable coaching these girls.”
Against UMS-Wright, Anna Moore had 18 kills, a block and nine digs, Holland Williams had 10 kills and five blocks, Lilly Smith had 25 digs and three assists, Ellie Causey had 40 assists and two aces and Micaiah Shelton had six kills, two blocks and eight digs.
Earlier in the day, Trinity defeated Andalusia in a first-round match, winning 25-13, 25-4 and 25-10. Moore had 16 kills, two blocks and eight digs, Williams had five kills and four blocks, Smith had seven digs and five assists, Causey had two kills, a block, 11 digs, 40 assists and three aces and Shelton had eight kills, two blocks and a dig.
Interestingly, the Wildcats could have lost in the area tournament finals to Catholic a week ago and would have avoided facing UMS-Wright, which reached both the 4A regional and state finals last season before losing to Catholic.
“It’s just the luck of the draw, or the un-luck of the draw,” Dubberley said. “You get assigned a number and you’re playing a different number from a different area. Sometimes it can work in your favor but for two years now it has not worked in our favor.
“Between us, Briarwood Christian, UMS-Wright and Catholic, the fact that two of those teams are not going on (to the state tournament) is maddening to me.”
Trinity (36-11) won 22 of its final 26 games over the last five weeks, losing only to a pair of Class 7A teams (Auburn and Enterprise), Montgomery Academy and UMS-Wright. Dubberley credited her three seniors -- Moore, Williams and Bearden Ellis -- for the team’s success.
“The whole season, we talked about how you’re either winning or you’re learning,” Dubberley said. “I told them I really hope that you learn from these three seniors and the leadership they provided. I’ve had phenomenal seniors before but the way these girls really pulled together the team as a family, I haven’t seen before.”