AISA VOLLEYBALL: Lowndes, Macon East reach finals of state tourney

Jenna Conway with a return shot for Hooper Academy in the AISA State Tournament on Monday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

After three consecutive trips to the Alabama Independent School Association state volleyball finals, Hooper Academy coach Jessi Hayes knew it would take the Colts’ best performance to advance to the finals a fourth time.

The Colts would fall one game short, losing to Southern 3-0 in the Class AA semifinals on Monday afternoon at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.

Southern will advance to the AA finals against Lowndes Academy, while Macon East will play Southern Choctaw in the A finals on Tuesday at the Multiplex.

“They keep the ball in play, they don’t give up on it,” Hayes said. “They hustle a lot. With ‘55’ (Southern’s Abby Sluder) on the front row, you’ve got to play your absolute best. They’re a very good team.”

Southern defeated Hooper for the second time in two weeks, but the Colts squandered late leads in both the first and third sets, giving up the final five points in losing 25-20 to end the season.

“My outside (Henlee Garvin), she played well, she hit the ball very well,” Hayes said. “Our idea was to switch her up, when she was on the back row and ‘55’ was on the front row. I tried to switch up the rotation a couple of times to see what would work. Either time, we would build it up, then we’d fall apart because we couldn’t finish.”

Despite the loss, Hayes was proud of the Colts (22-7), who rebuilt last year’s finalists with a gritty squad that returned to the semifinals with several new players and performed well above many of the expectations.

 “There were quite a few people that weren’t sure we were going to make it as far as we did and have as many wins as we did after losing the seniors we lost from last year, ” Hayes said. “But we had a couple of sophomores really step up into their starting position and we became one of the better teams in AA.

“Their two goals were to make it to the state championship and to not play selfish. It was easy for me as a coach not to have to worry about stuff like that. With their hustle, their grit, they’re a special group. I’m so proud of the way we didn’t listen to any of that (predictions). From day one, you go to practice and set out the goals at practice and what we’re going to do and they do it. You don’t have to fuss at them. As a coach, it’s been such a blessing this season.”

Hayes praised the performance of Jenna Conway, one of four Hooper sophomores that were instrumental in the Colts’ return to the state tournament. But she saved her highest praise for the seven seniors -- Libby Bressler, Tara Joy Kelliher, Addison Stanford, Ellie Pugh, Garvin, Maddalyne Wall and Jordan Conway.

“All of them are going to be hard to replace, even the ones who don’t start,” Hayes said. “Their mindset and their leadership on the bench and how loud and supportive they are, it’s going to be really difficult to replace.”

AISA STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

CLASS A

Quarterfinals

Macon East Academy 3, Monroe Academy 0

Coosa Valley 3, Patrician 2

South Choctaw 3, Cornerstone 0

Abbeville Christian 3, Heritage Christian 2

Semifinals

Macon East 3, Coosa Valley 1

South Choctaw 3, Abbeville Christian 1

Finals

Macon East vs. South Choctaw, Tuesday, 11 a.m.

CLASS AA

Quarterfinals

Lowndes Academy 3, Morgan Academy 0

Edgewood Academy 3, Jackson Academy 0

Southern Academy 3, Chambers Academy 0

Hooper Academy 3, Clarke Prep 0

Semifinals

Lowndes Academy 3, Edgewood Academy 0

Southern Academy 3, Hooper Academy 0

Finals

Lowndes Academy vs. Southern Academy, Tuesday, 1 p.m.