By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
HOOVER – The Spring Garden Lady Panthers area headed back to the Class 1A state volleyball tournament as the North Super Regional champions.
The defending state champion Lady Panthers swept Ider in the tournament semifinals and Addison in the regional championship on Friday at the Finley Center in Hoover to earn their latest volleyball title. Spring Garden defeated Ider 25-9, 25-15 and 25-12, then beat Addison 25-15, 25-10 and 25-17 to complete a sweep on their four regional opponents. The Lady Panthers swept Brilliant and Athens Bible on Thursday.
“This group of girls doesn’t have Super Regional champion on their resume. That’s something they just took kind of personal,” Spring Garden head coach Ricky Austin said. “It was just a fun day to play at the level we played against a really good team (Addison).”
All the more impressive concerning Spring Garden’s regional sweep was the quick turnaround the Lady Panthers had from Thursday’s quarterfinal match against Athens Bible to Friday’s 9:30 a.m. regional semifinal against Ider.
Thursday’s quarterfinal match between the Lady Panthers and Athens Bible was originally supposed to have begun at approximately 4:45 p.m., but matches were backed up at the Finley Center, which caused the delay.
The Finley Center was hosting its first volleyball regional this year.
Back in late September, new Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Heath Harmon announced the contract with Huntsville’s Von Braun Center had lapsed. Harmon said the AHSAA reached out to Huntsville to extend the contract this year, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.
The AHSAA did, however, reach a deal with the Finley Center to host this year’s event.
“We got started at 8:05 last night, and we were trying to find something to eat real close (in Hoover) at 9:08,” Austin said. “We finally got some food around 9:30 and got back to the hotel. Every 1A team that was playing today had already played their (quarterfinal) match (on Thursday), had already eaten and was back at their hotel before we even finished last night. It was a little bit of a short turnaround for us. Everybody else was rested.
“I could tell the first match this morning we were tired, but boy, once that got over with, we really hit a groove (against Addison). I don’t know if that’s the key to how well we played. I’d like to duplicate the match, but it was a rough day.”
And it was a rough day for Spring Garden’s fans as well.
“I’m so proud of our fans. We had some fans sit and wait eight hours for us to play (on Thursday). That’s crazy to ask fans to do that,” Austin said. “We had a few that got home at midnight last night and got up at 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock this morning and drove right back down here. Shout out to our fans and everyone who came and supported us. That meant a lot.”
Against Ider, Ace Austin led the Lady Panthers with 17 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and an assist. Maggie Jarrett delivered 11 kills, seven digs, an ace and a block. Avery Steward collected 33 assists, two digs, a kill and an ace. Olivia Law added six kills, five digs, a block and an assist. Kristen Lewis came away with 10 digs and an ace. Montana Highfield finished with two kills, two aces, a dig and a block.
In the victory over Addison, Austin accumulated 29 kills, 11 digs, two aces and a block. Jarrett earned seven kills, 12 digs and two blocks. Steward posted 39 assists and four digs. Law collected five kills, six digs, two blocks and an ace. Lewis managed 10 digs and a pair of aces. Highfield had two digs, two assists, an ace and a block. Chloe Fennell finished with a block.
“Ace was really good,” Coach Austin said. “They had their two best double blockers on her the whole match. She played exceptionally well, but the role players, everybody around her, played so good today as well. Every girl who stepped on the court today played so good today. Every girl really stepped their game up and we just played well.
“That’s probably the most perfect game we’ve played all year.”
Coach Austin is hoping that “perfect game” carries over into next week. Spring Garden will take on the South Super Regional’s fourth qualifier Millry in the state tournament at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
“We’ll get back in the gym on Monday and get back to work,” Coach Austin said. “Before we broke the huddle after the championship match, a couple of the girls said ‘Hey, we’re not done. We’re glad we won, but we’re not done.’ That’s what you want your team thinking this time of the year.”