SUPER REGIONAL: PCA advances to Birmingham; Catholic eliminated
Elle Maddox tips a ball past Tuscaloosa Academy defenders in the AHSAA South Super Regional at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Prattville Christian coach Kaylon Cantrell certainly could have wondered at times if her team was on the right path, but on Tuesday she discovered the Panthers still play at the standard it takes to advance to the state tournament after sweeping Tuscaloosa Academy 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17 to advance to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
“Getting out of our area was one of the tougher battles,” Cantrell said, “but the job wasn’t done there and we knew we wanted to get back to the state tournament. We’ve been preparing for this game. This is the one that mattered. We showed up today. It feels good to know we’re heading back next week.”
The program that was rebuilding after playing for a state championship last season veered off course at times this season and rarely looked like the team that won a 3A championship in 2022 and a 4A championship in 2024, but patience and hard work kept the Panthers on a path of improvement throughout the season.
“It’s been a tough season,” Cantrell said. “We’ve had some really hard lows and some really good highs, but the thing about this team that I have loved is they never quit. Even when we weren’t winning games, we were still showing up and we were still working hard. And they still had a goal in mind at the end of the season to get to state.
“It didn’t look like we thought it was going to look necessarily this year, but the goal is accomplished.”
PCA was in command from the beginning, playing its best volleyball of the season in sweeping the Knights in a three-set match on Wednesday.
“I feel like we played well,” Cantrell said. “We’ve got to clean up some stuff. We still made too many of our own unforced errors that we can clean up. Against tougher competition, we’re not going to be able to give those points away.”
Later in the day, the Panthers (19-24) defeated Mobile Christian, rallying from a 25-17 defeat in the first set to win 25-17, 25-23 and 25-21 to advance to the championship game of the South Super Regional, playing area rival Montgomery Academy on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
For the Panthers, Maddie Brownlee had five assists, a pair of aces and 16 digs in the two games while Anniston Robison had 48 assists, three kills, an ace and 20 digs. Charlotte Connell had a kill, Copeland Miller had two kills, three aces and five digs, Christiana Franklin had nine kills and a block, Haven Harrell had an assist, two aces and 11 digs, Jordyn Harris had 14 assists, three kills, an ace and five digs, Olivia Rossi had 23 kills, an assist, four aces, a block and seven digs, Maren Diefenderfer had 34 kills, two assists, seven aces, a block and nine digs, Elle Maddox had two kills, an assist and five blocks and Sara Grace Smith had seven digs.
Catholic’s Lyla Sanford goes for a kill shot in the AHSAA South Super Regional match against St. Paul’s on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
Catholic falls in super regional
Catholic led for much of the first set in Wednesday’s South Super Regional Class AA Private matchup with St. Paul’s Episcopal.
Then, with a late flurry of determination from the Saints and some late-set mistakes by the Knights, the Mobile private school won the first set 26-24. St. Paul’s went on to win the second set 28-26 and the third set 25-17, advancing to the state tournament while ending Catholic’s season at 23-10.
After the match, as stunned Catholic players huddled in a corner, coach Jenn Denham tried to make sense of what just happened. She couldn’t.
“That’s one of those where I don’t think the best team won,” she said. “Obviously, I’m partial to my girls but I think we could have cleaned up some things on our end. We hurt ourselves in a couple of areas. I think if we played them again, I don’t know that it would go that way.”
Catholic not only led for much of the first set, but seemed to be in control of the match. After losing the first set, the Knights never seemed the same.
“Being up that first set and them coming back, that makes it hard,” Denham said. “We just had the lead and now we’ve got to shift our mindset. Instead of cruising, we shouldn’t but it almost seems as if we tightened up and play a little more defensive.”
In past years, an opening round game in the super regional is generally a mismatch for the better volleyball programs in the state, but Alabama High School Athletic Association officials changed the format this year and put the nine largest private schools in the south half of the state into two areas that will meet in the South Super Regional.
“What are they? A 6A, one of the biggest schools in AA (Private) and we’re a 3A,” Denham said of her first-round opponent. “That’s not right. But it’s not my decision at the end of the day, it’s what (AHSAA officials) feel is best. We’re making choices on what’s best for the student-athletes. This isn’t the answer. You look at the South Super Regional, there are nine teams in AA Private and eight of the nine went to the state tournament last year. Four are going to be there this year. Tell me what kind of volleyball that’s going to be.
“Four of the eight teams in the state tournament last year are going to be sitting at home this year. But some (new) people are going to win and they’re going to be really happy about it.”
In Wednesday’s match, Zaria Rudolph had 13 kills, one block, 12 digs and an ace, Kayla Blackwell had eight kills, a block, 10 digs and three aces, Lyla Sanford had five kills, two blocks, eight digs and three aces and Ava Bierly had 16 digs.
The Knights were considered one of the top teams in the state despite returning just two players with any meaningful varsity experience from a year ago, outside hitter Zaria Rudolph and the Knights’ lone senior, libero Ava Bierly.
“I’m so proud of Ava, the way she led this group,” Denham said. “We have a lot of people who didn’t think we would get this far. The disappointing thing is the reality of not being at state next week, but these girls competed and battled and they were a breath of fresh air for all of us. They came into the gym every day and wanted to work hard, wanted to get better, wanted to compete. They were coachable. They loved each other.”
Two other starters transferred over the summer to other teams in the River Region, but the Knights won their area despite the preseason roster shakeup.
“That’s a tribute to these girls and the way they worked hard,” Denham said. “There were a lot of people who doubted them, there were people who went to what they thought were better opportunities. And they may have been better opportunities from a personal standpoint. But loyalty wins at the end of the day, kindness wins at the end of the day and these girls showed both of those. Again, it’s not the outcome we wanted, but I told the girls not to focus on this, as hard as that is. Focus on the season and the journey that we had because we did a lot of things really, really well. These girls, I am so proud of them.”