By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SPRING GARDEN – The next generation of Austins is already experiencing what it’s like to win a championship at Spring Garden.
Following the Lady Panthers’ Cherokee County Volleyball Tournament title win over Sand Rock on Saturday – their first since 2020 – head coach Ricky Austin took a few moments to pose with nine-day old granddaughter Myla Austin and the tournament championship trophy.
Myla, the daughter of Riley and Shaley Austin, was born three weeks early. She came into the world at six pounds and five ounces.
“When I knew she was going to be born by the county tournament, I felt more pressure (to win it). We’ve got to win this thing and bring her into this world with a county championship,” Coach Austin said.
“All of our children – Ace, Riley and Cooper – have always been such great troopers when it came to being coaches’ kids. We look back at pictures and see them holding state championship trophies, and on the flip side, crying in the locker room after we lost. It’s just such a big part of our family. I wanted to make sure we introduced her to Spring Garden athletics and expectations. Hopefully one day we can look at that picture with her and she understands this started a long time ago. She might not play anything, but in our family, we just feel like it’s important to enjoy those moments with how important athletics and how important family is.”
One of the facts that might be told someday to Myla Austin about Saturday’s tournament title is the three tournament wins against Cedar Bluff (25-10, 25-18), Cherokee County (25-14, 25-17) and Sand Rock (25-12, 25-19) brought the Lady Panthers’ winning streak to 24 straight matches and improved their record to a remarkable 37-3.
Another may be how it was the first county volleyball championship for Lady Panther seniors Libby Brown, Allie Mobbs, Chloe Rule and Maggie Reedy.
“It’s fulfillment for them and fulfillment for me,” Coach Austin said. “A county championship makes me happy because they work hard. Obviously our goal is to win the last match of the season. That’s the ultimate fulfillment, but our seniors, I did not want them to get away from this school without coming back one day and saying ‘I was a part of that.’ It’s special, and they all contributed to it.”
In Spring Garden’s win over Cedar Bluff, Ace Austin accounted for eight kills, two digs and a block. Rule registered seven kills and three blocks. Olivia Law compiled seven kills, a block and an ace. Avery Steward added 22 assists, two aces and a kill. Maggie Jarrett and Layla Ingram both had two digs and an ace. Kristen Lewis finished with a dig and an ace.
Against Cherokee County, Ace Austin led the Lady Panthers with 12 kills and three digs. Rule posted seven kills. Jarrett came away with three kills, a block and an ace. Law managed four kills and two blocks. Ingram had two digs and an assist. Lewis gained three digs and two aces. Steward finished with 23 assists.
In the championship match against Sand Rock (27-14), Ace Austin came away with eight kills and two digs in the championship match against Sand Rock. Rule reeled off six kills and five blocks. Law delivered seven kills, three blocks and an ace. Ingram posted four digs. Lewis had two digs and an ace. Steward added 20 assists. Mobbs managed a block, and Maggie Jarrett finished with four aces and a dig.
Jarrett’s serving set the tone for the Lady Panthers early against Sand Rock in the first set, as Spring Garden jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
The Lady Panthers jumped out to another early advantage in the second set at 5-1. Sand Rock rallied to cut its deficit to a point, but the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Wildcats 17-12 down the stretch to take the win.
“Hat’s off to Spring Garden,” Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates said. “They have very solid serve-receive. They have a very solid team as far as how they hit the floor. They deserved to win the county championship today. They’re just a smart team with how they play. I thought a did a good job blocking, did a good job of covering when we got a touch on a block or got a block.
“In that seven points (to begin the first set), we never got the ball over the net. All they did was serve and we never made them have to dig a ball or anything. I think it was a mental letdown from having to battle so much the last two matches. We had a little more fight in the second set against Spring Garden. I’m proud of the girls for battling in that last set.”
As Bates said, Sand Rock had to battle its way out of the losers bracket after losing to Cherokee County in its opening match. The scores were 27-25 and 25-18.
The Lady Wildcats recovered against Gaylesville to win 25-10, 25-9, then rallied to defeat Cedar Bluff after being a set down (22-25, 25-9, 15-13). Those wins set up a rematch with the Lady Warriors, which Sand Rock defeated in three sets 25-19, 19-25 and 17-15.
In the win over Cherokee County, Katelyn St.Clair became Sand Rock’s all-time leader in career kills, surpassing Jennifer Campbell, who held the record of 1,615 since 2009.
Campbell played outside hitter from 2006-2009 for the Lady Wildcats. St.Clair now has 1,628.
Bates said Campbell joined the Lady Wildcats at practice this past week to help Sand Rock prepare for the County Tournament.
Another Sand Rock player reached a milestone Saturday as Rylin St.Clair surpassed 2,000 career assists in the tournament final against Spring Garden. She now has 2,006 assists.
For the tournament, Katelyn St.Clair compiled 79 kills, 31 digs and six aces. Rylin St.Clair added109 assists, 35 digs and a pair of aces. Chloe Stephens delivered 69 digs and five aces. Bethany Davis collected 21 kills, 37 digs and nine aces. Zoey Handy had 17 kills and four blocks. Amber Day finished with 26 digs.
Macy Lea accumulated 53 assists, two kills and six digs for third-place Cherokee County. Raegan Garmany came away with 14 kills, three digs and five blocks. Ava Haygood accounted for17 kills, 10 digs, an ace and three blocks. Nevaeh Gaidurgis collected 29 kills, 10 digs, four blocks and three aces. Ellisan Givens finished with 39 digs, a kill and five assists.
