MAYOR'S CUP VOLLEYBALL: Montgomery Academy recaptures Cup
Montgomery Academy’s Bennnett Britt with a kill in a match during the Mayor’s Cup tourney at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl over the weekend. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Rehmat Sidhu decided to celebrate her birthday with a few friends at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
The Montgomery Academy senior setter and her teammates led the Eagles to six wins in the annual Mayor’s Cup, advancing to the finals with a dominating win over Prattville Christian Academy and then defeating Pike Road for the second time in three days to win the championship on Saturday afternoon.
“This is a good birthday present,” Sidhu said. “I’m glad I was able to play with my friends here and win at the end.”
The host team lost in the finals a year ago to Briarwood Christian, reclaiming the title for the first time since beating Pelham in 2024.
“It means a lot to us,” first-year coach Jada Coleman said. “Our main thing all season has been we have to be consistent, we’ve got to be consistent. A tournament shows which teams can be consistent, so it’s really nice for the girls to show up this weekend and be ready to go and show we can be consistent because I feel like we played our best volleyball in this tournament.”
The tournament, which was held two weeks later because of a scheduling conflict, drew a smaller group of participants with virtually all of the participants coming from the River Region.
“We just want to play the best of the best and PCA and Pike Road both showed they were the best in the tournament,” Coleman said. “It’s nice to know that we have good competition in the Montgomery area, that we get to face good competition in the regular season and not just at a tournament.”
On Friday, the Eagles defeated Marbury 25-11 and 25-13. Morgan Springer had eight kills, four aces and three digs, E.G. Hines had five kills, an ace and three digs, Caroline Wood had five kills and a block, Addison Kitchens had four kills, Emilyn Trott had four kills, an assist and a dig and Bennett Britt had three kills and three digs. Evie Bailey added an ace and two assists, Kathleen Johnston had a dig, Lizzie Campbell had six digs and Sidhu had 17 assists and three digs.
On Saturday morning, MA defeated Brew Tech 25-6 and 25-13. Wood had six kills, Britt had four kills and two digs, Hines had three kills and two digs, Springer had two kills, a block and three aces and Trott had a kill, an ace and a dig. Kitchens had a kill, Sidhu had a kill and nine assists, Campbell had an ace and five digs, Johnston had six aces and two digs, Bailey had two assists and two digs, Ella Gaines Thomas had three assists, Caroline Sullivan had a kill and Preston Sullivan had a dig.
The Eagles closed out pool play with a 25-12 and 25-13 win over Chilton County to finish first in their pool. Britt had seven kills and four digs, Springer had seven kills, a block, a dig and an assist, Hines had four kills, a block, an ace and three digs, Kitchens had three kills and two digs and Sidhu had an ace, three digs and 20 assists. Wood had two kills and a dig, Campbell had three aces, eight digs and an assist, Bailey had an assist, Trott had a kill, Johnston had two digs, Thomas had a dig, Caroline Sullivan had a dig and Preston Sullivan had a dig.
The Eagles then advanced to quarterfinal play in the gold bracket, defeating Prattville 25-11 and 25-17. Springer had 10 kills, two blocks and a dig, Hines had five kills, an ace and four digs, Trott had five kills, a dig and two blocks, Kitchens had four kills, a dig and two blocks, Britt had two kills and seven digs, Wood had two kills and Sidhu had a kill, a block, two aces, three digs and 29 assists. Campbell had three aces and 18 digs, Johnston had three aces and two digs and Preston Sullivan had two digs.
In the semifinals, Montgomery Acadeny defeated Prattville Christian 25-6 and 25-8. Wood had six kills and a block, Britt had six kills and three digs, Kitchens had four kills and a block, Hines had three kills and a dig and Sidhu had two kills, eight aces and 18 assists. Springer had seven aces and Campbell had two aces and five digs, Johnston had five digs and Springer had three digs.
In the gold bracket finals, Montgomery Academy rallied from a one-point deficit to win 26-24 in the first set, then defeated the Patriots 25-17 in the second set. Springer had 10 kills and two blocks, Hines had seven kills and nine digs, Britt had five kills and 12 digs, Kitchens had two kills and a block and Sidhu had six digs and 28 assists. Wood had four kills, Johnston had four aces and eight digs and Campbell had an assist and 13 digs.
Sidhu was pleased at the way her team rolled through the tournament unbeaten, but the Eagles had to rally from a 24-23 deficit to defeat Pike Road in the first set.
“It means a lot to us,” she said of the tournament title. “We had high energy the whole tournament. No one dropped at all. We knew we wanted it so badly. The first set, we got a little shaky so it was good to come through and win it all.
“We knew a lot of their shots that they hit because we had just played them (on Thursday). We started off strong, got a little frantic in the middle and came through at the end.”
Montgomery Academy (15-4) will travel to St. James and play host to Trinity in a pair of Class A Private area matches this week, hoping to advance to the state tournament after losing in the South Super Regional the past two years.
“I feel like we’re playing good,” Sidhu said. “At the beginning of the season, I felt like we were a little off but we’ve really come together and are climbing a lot and reaching our peak.”