WEEKEND PREPS: MA volleyball has solid opening tourney; Prattville Flag opens in Hoover Tourney

COMBINED REPORTS

HOOVER -- Montgomery Academy went 3-1 in pool play to advance to the Gold Division of the Juanita Boddie Tournament, reaching the semifinals before falling to McGill-Toolen on Saturday afternoon.

In the second game of bracket play, a win over Auburn High, Montgomery Academy coach Julie Gordon reached her 1,600th career victory, one of only two coaches in the state of Alabama and one of only six coaches nationally to reach that plateau.

Gordon, in her 46th year at the school, is now 1,601-436, trailing only Bayside Academy’s Ann Schilling among state volleyball coaches.

In addition, senior outside hitter Elle McBride topped 1,500 career kills on Saturday. The four-year starter now has 1,510 career kills.

Montgomery Academy tuned up for the Boddie Tournament with a 3-0 win at LAMP on Thursday, defeating the Golden Tigers 25-12, 25-10 and 25-12.

The Eagles then defeated Homewood (25-18, 25-16), Buckhorn (25-17, 25-18) and Douglas (25-17, 25-13) in pool play before suffering their first loss of the season to Brandon (Miss.) High 23-25, 25-22 and 10-15.

Montgomery Academy qualified for Gold Division play, beating Mountain Brook 25-14 and 25-17 and Auburn 25-10 and 25-19 to reach the quarterfinals. The Eagles earned a hard-fought victory over the host Buccaneers, defeating Hoover 25-20 and 25-22 to reach the semifinals, where they lost to McGill-Toolen 21-25 and 23-25.

For the week, Addi Vinson had 159 assists, 82 digs, 15 kills, seven aces and eight blocks, McBride had 77 kills, 37 digs, seven aces and four blocks, Morgan Springer had 39 kills, 14 blocks, nine aces and seven digs, Caroline McDaniel had 36 kills, 26 digs, five blocks and three aces, Kaci Armistead had 67 digs, 10 aces and four assists and Emmy Sorrell had 57 digs, seven assists and six aces.

Montgomery Academy (7-2) returns home to play Wetumpka (4:30 p.m.) and Catholic (6:30 p.m.) in a tri-match on Tuesday, then travels to Julian for an area match on Thursday before hosting the annual MAC Attack on Saturday.

Trinity reaches Gold Division of Juanita Boddie Tournament

HOOVER -- The Wildcats opened the season at UMS-Wright on Thursday, then went 2-2 in the annual Juanita Boddie Tournament, reaching the Gold Division before falling on Saturday.

Trinity, which lost in the second round of the super regionals last year to UMS-Wright, faced the Bulldogs in the 2024 season opener on Thursday and rallied from an opening loss to win in five sets, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-25 and 15-9.

Anna Moore had 14 kills, seven digs and four aces, Holland Williams had nine kills, three aces and nine blocks, Lilly Smith had 15 digs and an ace and Lizzie Causey had 10 kills, six aces and 12 digs

On Friday, the Wildcats split a pair of matches in the Boddie Tournament, defeating Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 2-0 and losing to Mountain Brook 2-1. On Saturday, Trinity defeated Creekwood (Tenn.) and James Clemens to advance to the Gold Division, where they lost to Brandon (Miss.).

In the tournament, Smith had 62 digs, six assists and two aces, Causey had 20 kills, six aces and 35 digs, Williams had 40 kills, four aces and 14 blocks, Moore had 35 kills, five aces, 20 digs and three blocks and Ellie Causey had 107 assists, 23 digs and three aces.

The Wildcats (4-2) will face Pike Road in their 2024 home opener on Monday and will remain home for their area opener against Marbury on Tuesday before traveling to St. James for another area match on Thursday.  

PCA wins Panther Classic on Saturday  

PRATTVILLE -- The Panthers bounced back from Thursday’s season opening loss to Auburn with a sweep of five opponents to capture the Panther Classic title in the PCA gym on Saturday.

Prattville Christian defeated Chilton County (25-14, 25-14), Demopolis (25-9, 25-16) and Orange Beach (25-22, 25-19) in pool play. In bracket play, the Panthers defeated Brew Tech (25-17, 25-22) in the semifinals and Pike Road in the championship match (25-17, 25-22).

For the tournament, Baylee Rogers had 90 assists, seven aces, six kills and 16 digs, Emma Cate Carter had 11 aces, 44 kills, three blocks, an assist and 18 digs, Maren Diefenderfer had two aces, 36 kills, five blocks and an assist and Leah Cate Wilson had 17 kills, a block, two assists and five digs.

Olivia Rossi had six kills, a pair of blocks and a pair of digs, Natalee Wheeler had three aces, three kills, three assists and 23 digs, Brylee Byrd had two aces, a kill and 12 digs, Morgan Fowler had two aces, nine assists and 17 digs, Aiden Williams had four aces and 13 digs, Paysley Bayer had four kills and four digs, Anniston Robison had eight kills and four digs and Kenadie Minor had a kill.

PCA (5-1) remains home to play Glenwood School and Chilton County in a tri-match on Tuesday.

Prattville Flag Football picks up season-opening wins in Hoover Tourney

HOOVER -- Prattville’s flag football team opened the 2024 season with a sweep of Brookwood, John Carroll and Hewitt-Trussville in Hoover’s kickoff tournament on Saturday.

John Carroll hosted the qualifying tournament for its area last year before losing in the first round to eventual 1A-5A state champion Wenonah. Hewitt-Trussville reached the quarterfinals of the 6A-7A playoffs last year before losing to Lee.

Prattville reached the semifinals of the 6A-7A playoffs before losing to Central-Phenix City.

On Saturday, the Lions opened the season with a 26-0 win over Brookwood. Kaytie Chandler threw four touchdown passes in the win, with Cadence Forrester on the receiving end of three of them and Lanieya Page catching the other. Defensively, Emma Moore, Eriana Benson and Anna Bone each recorded three sacks.

The Lions got their touchdowns on the ground in the second game, getting a touchdown each from Chandler and Hartley McCay in a hard-fought 14-6 victory over John Carroll. Defensively, Avery Patterson had an interception and Moore and Bone each had a pair of sacks, with Benson adding one.

Prattville closed out its play in the tournament with an impressive 30-0 win over Hewitt-Trussville as Chandler connected with Page on three touchdown passes and McCay added a rushing touchdown.

Page finished her day with five touchdowns, adding another on an interception return against the Huskies.

Moore and Benson each had a pair of sacks to lead the Lion defense.

Prattville (3-0) returns home and will face Catholic, last year’s 1A-5A runner-up, at Marbury at 5:30 p.m. Because of renovations to Stanley-Jensen Stadium, the Lions will play all of their home games at Marbury High this fall.